tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17897161879488297212024-03-04T23:02:00.278-06:00Make-It-Do FarmThe ponderings and happenings of a family of nine in rural Missouri. Kick off your shoes and stay awhile.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18401587244734109896noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1789716187948829721.post-18284543915754781662015-04-17T11:42:00.001-05:002015-04-17T11:42:13.149-05:00Rhubarb and Sam, Episode 7<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The long lost podcast! This week in Rhubarb and Sam, we apologize for our absence and then get busy reflecting on our various spring projects... lots of permaculture projects including new food forests and our first swale, nature trails and a campsite. Then there is a frog and a cat. Don't miss it!!<br />
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Please note that you can subscribe to the podcast in several ways:<br />
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At the iTunes store via <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/make-it-do-farm/id886991920">this link</a>.<br />
If you are using an RSS reader or podcast app use <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Make-it-doFarm/podcast">this link</a>.<br />
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Thanks and enjoy!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1789716187948829721.post-38882656372805563132014-11-10T09:32:00.002-06:002014-11-10T09:32:31.551-06:00Rhubarb and Sam, Episode 6<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The long lost podcast! This week in Rhubarb and Sam, we reflect on the transformation that Kaleesha has been through over the past two years. From her long hair and modest dress and primary role of obedient wife and mother, all based on her previous fundamentalism, to her short hair cut and changing dress habits to her new role as an author. Interesting.<br />
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Please note that you can subscribe to the podcast in several ways:<br />
<br />
At the iTunes store via <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/make-it-do-farm/id886991920">this link</a>.<br />
If you are using an RSS reader or podcast app use <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Make-it-doFarm/podcast">this link</a>.<br />
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Thanks and enjoy!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18401587244734109896noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1789716187948829721.post-57350644823518879422014-11-04T18:48:00.001-06:002014-11-04T18:49:23.416-06:00Autumn at Make-It-Do Farm<div data-mce-style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 14px;" style="margin-bottom: 24px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">You thought you could escape without hearing me blather on about autumn, didn’t you? Ha! </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Photo 10 21 2014 16 58 19" border="0" data-mce-src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-4r8TMqSN6Rk/VFltaU1WRQI/AAAAAAAABK0/gzny3oIyoxU/Photo%25252010-21-2014-16.58.19.jpg?imgmax=800" data-mce-style="font-size: 19px;" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-4r8TMqSN6Rk/VFltaU1WRQI/AAAAAAAABK0/gzny3oIyoxU/Photo%25252010-21-2014-16.58.19.jpg?imgmax=800" height="297" style="border: 0px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Photo 10-21-2014-16.58.19.jpg" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our place beginning to be covered in leaves.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN-ZkliuxkffO1CiWc07ame_RSo3qfx8gnCR4zoLHJsjQpekYXVh1AOlXiRnWbm31ewA1SOPezKGxyvqH-VzeEFQdbjiOCF9ZkDAf4uqDu1PaplHjT4FYHBLteXQEhf02Po8-6EneraU4/s1600/Photo+10-18-2014-16.42.14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN-ZkliuxkffO1CiWc07ame_RSo3qfx8gnCR4zoLHJsjQpekYXVh1AOlXiRnWbm31ewA1SOPezKGxyvqH-VzeEFQdbjiOCF9ZkDAf4uqDu1PaplHjT4FYHBLteXQEhf02Po8-6EneraU4/s1600/Photo+10-18-2014-16.42.14.jpg" height="297" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">We hosted our first annual Fall Festival. I suspect this will replace the former annual Box Turtle Race I used to host in the spring. It was always difficult to pull off a big gathering when there was so much garden work to be done, but it was worth it. Now, however, we just don’t have as many other children in our lives to make such a shindig worthwhile. And we’re totally into the autumn scene, with the cool weather, campfires, cozy sweaters, hot drinks, steaming bowls of chili and plates piled high with carbs… Anyway, we kicked it off this year and I think we’re off to a good start.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Justin helping BeBop check out the fireplace.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">We bought a couple cord of decent firewood and had it stacked right quick with everyone pitching in. Our friend Russ was good enough to stop by and sweep our chimney, and my dad came over to help us refigure our stove, which we had piped out through the old fireplace. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Dad cut out the old damper, we cleaned the heck out of everything (at least 30 lbs. of creosote and ash) with Dad's shop vac, thanked the Flying Spaghetti Monster that we’d never had a chimney fire, and Dad worked some magic on the opening, covering it with cement board and rigging up some new stovepipe. The draw on that baby is remarkably improved. I tell you what, if there’s a zombie apocalypse, I want my dad by my side. The man has more practical knowledge and skill in his little pinky than I’ll ever have (though I like to think it rubbed off on me just a wee bit), more than anyone I know. (My brother is a close second.) He usually has the right tool for the job and nearly every other time we work together I’m introduced to a tool I didn’t know existed. Anyway, he’s our go-to guy, and we definitely needed help with this project.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhghnC6nXRxY3WZtJ-D4YTSEX9oekLsy3z2HLYRtuJHRPY9S1GZwN6g6DwwUnYoFSv9a4u76OjJ3v8o0dXUNXfNlyFvYkZSp-FYMPqRMa73wwrgKZBK3wAQLTUdhvVDWNF2CGA92TBtDTg/?imgmax=800" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Photo 10 30 2014 08 49 21" border="0" data-mce-src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhghnC6nXRxY3WZtJ-D4YTSEX9oekLsy3z2HLYRtuJHRPY9S1GZwN6g6DwwUnYoFSv9a4u76OjJ3v8o0dXUNXfNlyFvYkZSp-FYMPqRMa73wwrgKZBK3wAQLTUdhvVDWNF2CGA92TBtDTg/?imgmax=800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhghnC6nXRxY3WZtJ-D4YTSEX9oekLsy3z2HLYRtuJHRPY9S1GZwN6g6DwwUnYoFSv9a4u76OjJ3v8o0dXUNXfNlyFvYkZSp-FYMPqRMa73wwrgKZBK3wAQLTUdhvVDWNF2CGA92TBtDTg/?imgmax=800" height="298" style="border: 0px;" title="Photo 10-30-2014-08.49.21.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kids enjoying the fire on the first frosty morning.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Den and I bought new replacement parts as necessary for the stove. I sanded it, washed it, and gave it a new coat of paint (high heat Rustoleum, from the automotive dept—worked great). We enjoyed our first fire a few nights ago. The new catalytic combustor allowed for a clean burn. I couldn’t even see a wisp of smoke coming out of the chimney once it activated and it kept all the heat in the house where it belongs. Most excellent. I’m so tickled Denny is willing to do what it takes to do things the right way. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blue & Justin scouting fish</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">We rearranged our 55 gal fish tank (in above photo) and some of the kids volunteered to spend a couple sunny afternoons wading in the creek, catching some more fish to populate it.</span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> Several red bellied daces, spotted topminnows, stone rollers, orange throat darters, a tiny long-ear sunfish, and one banded sculpin. We looked them all up in the Missouri fish book and called it school.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I also did this:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">It’s my first rock balancing, but I plan to make it a habit. Our friend Russ turned us on to it. Surprisingly enjoyable, especially while at the creek.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Loving some rainy fall days...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">…and bright sunny fall days. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_fGvIi0tmVsKgRgc8XvSwu6lVE9IxMAVWWs-88izo0H-mjM5WAyIrXFMP0ZiTssFOQR38bRfzkX9_ovMhTEJtmZvEWZcfvX8cdkRE84BPPQktvpijLHfHfZlLIk9BPFBTCNCP9KxSjnE/?imgmax=800" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Photo 10 22 2014 16 53 34" border="0" data-mce-src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_fGvIi0tmVsKgRgc8XvSwu6lVE9IxMAVWWs-88izo0H-mjM5WAyIrXFMP0ZiTssFOQR38bRfzkX9_ovMhTEJtmZvEWZcfvX8cdkRE84BPPQktvpijLHfHfZlLIk9BPFBTCNCP9KxSjnE/?imgmax=800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_fGvIi0tmVsKgRgc8XvSwu6lVE9IxMAVWWs-88izo0H-mjM5WAyIrXFMP0ZiTssFOQR38bRfzkX9_ovMhTEJtmZvEWZcfvX8cdkRE84BPPQktvpijLHfHfZlLIk9BPFBTCNCP9KxSjnE/?imgmax=800" height="400" style="border: 0px;" title="Photo 10-22-2014-16.53.34.jpg" width="298" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The above was taken during one of my and Denny’s daily, 2-mile walks. Well, almost daily. Pretty, eh? We pretty much live in paradise. To the right is another photo from the same walk. Denny is rockin' his solar-viewing glasses, checking out the huge spot on the sun. I had mine on for a bit, too. Wonder what drivers-by thought when they saw us in our geeky glasses, walking and staring at the sun? Hehe.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieuW35ve2wNZkZRj5MmzP3zNqXPu99DcXltBxivRywmnmTFdeENvxdR30w7gQjcsfaoj5nGJrNNKmOtIcYb2ETjk2k7i-gbBVkVEL8SQwDa_oS1irrzM46nI_qNbC4tMhvlFs14NTr2JI/?imgmax=800" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Photo 11 01 2014 17 42 31" border="0" data-mce-src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieuW35ve2wNZkZRj5MmzP3zNqXPu99DcXltBxivRywmnmTFdeENvxdR30w7gQjcsfaoj5nGJrNNKmOtIcYb2ETjk2k7i-gbBVkVEL8SQwDa_oS1irrzM46nI_qNbC4tMhvlFs14NTr2JI/?imgmax=800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieuW35ve2wNZkZRj5MmzP3zNqXPu99DcXltBxivRywmnmTFdeENvxdR30w7gQjcsfaoj5nGJrNNKmOtIcYb2ETjk2k7i-gbBVkVEL8SQwDa_oS1irrzM46nI_qNbC4tMhvlFs14NTr2JI/?imgmax=800" height="300" style="border: 0px;" title="Photo 11-01-2014-17.42.31.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">We celebrated our second-ever Halloween by donning costumes and attending our small town’s gathering Halloween shindig. Local business owners and other groups line the courthouse square and hand out candy. Farra dressed everyone (except me & Den. We went naked).</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blue & Little raking leaves</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span data-mce-style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;" style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Yesterday the weather warmed a bit, up in the mid 60’s. The sun was shining and the yard was covered in crispy leaves, mostly oak. After errands in the morning and a lunch of popcorn, Den, myself, and some of the kids headed out to do yard work. We raked, mowed, and mulched some new garden beds. We buried the less hardy herbs under mountains of mulched leaves, raked pine needles up around the acid-loving blueberry bushes, planted a couple rows of garlic with a hearty helping of composted goat manure, herded the chicken</span><span data-mce-style="letter-spacing: 0px;" style="letter-spacing: 0px;">s and ducks out of the garden and shut the gates—sorry guys, garden party is over. Can’t have them scratching up the garlic.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXblqANB8mRC17nLEcB0ktGjoB-o-ILyH0EpaO2l_Pj717p_2NOSz3fMEesgPWy3A2_MVcFcrxBOAar5HR5XvUmiOVA06_YeO_X510rO9H1Uff8eSZjER_mPinJtHZ2qSIbVJWj-GMZ0g/?imgmax=800" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Photo 11 03 2014 15 37 16" border="0" data-mce-src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXblqANB8mRC17nLEcB0ktGjoB-o-ILyH0EpaO2l_Pj717p_2NOSz3fMEesgPWy3A2_MVcFcrxBOAar5HR5XvUmiOVA06_YeO_X510rO9H1Uff8eSZjER_mPinJtHZ2qSIbVJWj-GMZ0g/?imgmax=800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXblqANB8mRC17nLEcB0ktGjoB-o-ILyH0EpaO2l_Pj717p_2NOSz3fMEesgPWy3A2_MVcFcrxBOAar5HR5XvUmiOVA06_YeO_X510rO9H1Uff8eSZjER_mPinJtHZ2qSIbVJWj-GMZ0g/?imgmax=800" height="298" style="border: 0px;" title="Photo 11-03-2014-15.37.16.jpg" width="400" /></a><span data-mce-style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;" style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Denny headed to the barn to put the gas can away. Mower battery went dead, so we will have to finish on the next nice day. But it’s sure lookin’ pretty out there.</span></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;" style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The afternoon passed so sweetly, if a bit dustily. Working the land with your loved ones in the warm sunshine… is there anything so soul-nourishing? Maybe preparing dinner. Peeling and cutting potatoes and leeks in the kitchen with your family, dancing to Santana’s <em>Oye Como Va, </em>making a delicious soup while the sky darkens outside the windows.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Photo 11 03 2014 17 09 59" border="0" data-mce-src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxsKkmFwxmzJrUkcZG7j_GlAzZ93JB0wlvtvcOhSAZf8rY-6PEphUowcR2xSxWKCPZa8nvussDMfdTd8z5TrcrJm4H3mG_BIfZrUYSx5wjxajQKX8JuSUvAXXQpULMlYvFf4Nv2S97Dio/?imgmax=800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxsKkmFwxmzJrUkcZG7j_GlAzZ93JB0wlvtvcOhSAZf8rY-6PEphUowcR2xSxWKCPZa8nvussDMfdTd8z5TrcrJm4H3mG_BIfZrUYSx5wjxajQKX8JuSUvAXXQpULMlYvFf4Nv2S97Dio/?imgmax=800" height="298" style="border: 0px;" title="Photo 11-03-2014-17.09.59.jpg" width="400" /></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="letter-spacing: 0px;" style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I could fill pages with descriptions of our days. The joys, the challenges, the sweet moments, the laughter. Life is good.</span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18401587244734109896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1789716187948829721.post-8758828783640820622014-09-03T11:46:00.002-05:002014-09-03T11:46:24.002-05:00Potatoes!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggxGfM46lhJKGy5M0Ktu4ewj6z2PhBwsMyeADEZQ_V2orRIhtnSEkUJxlhGbvCKdjm7rIkKPRTYrcRJUUUy3RT1HWrEVZT6qdWnIqd-BhfgzWU8m_SsvmTuIhn-yy_7MtQH9gglWXAP9U/?imgmax=800" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Photo 09 03 2014 10 21 54" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggxGfM46lhJKGy5M0Ktu4ewj6z2PhBwsMyeADEZQ_V2orRIhtnSEkUJxlhGbvCKdjm7rIkKPRTYrcRJUUUy3RT1HWrEVZT6qdWnIqd-BhfgzWU8m_SsvmTuIhn-yy_7MtQH9gglWXAP9U/?imgmax=800" height="238" title="Photo 09-03-2014-10.21.54.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I’m quite far behind on this blog, but no matter; I shall dive right in anyway and get caught up as I’m able.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">We maybe should have dug up our potatoes a couple weeks ago, maybe even a month ago. (Am I running behind on everything?) Well, after an incredibly mild summer, which was more like a New England summer than a Missouri summer, we hit a patch of oppressive heat and humidity that drove us indoors for a couple weeks. Denny and I only got out when we needed to and tried to keep that to morning hours. The younger kids played in the hose most afternoons. The creek had nearly dried up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Now we’re back to something more reasonable. The sun was shining this morning, the katydids were carrying on like nobody’s business, the bees were busy about the last of summer’s flowers. Time to head to the garden.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Only the three youngest grew potatoes this year. Just a small patch each in their small garden plots. Seth and Blue helped them harvest. We’d planted what was left of the seed in a bigger patch by our tomatoes. Royal and Little stayed out to help harvest those while the others went off to play.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Photo 09 03 2014 11 06 45" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs_sXm1b5Cqo_D350sWjuqgx3QctVzIY6P_mNqpyYxmX7CdOY_gipT6yvziKvdArB61UyjeRxBeGPdA8vi_FJt6t9So-yKpXRG0MRKOZe4r_A4DWDmYEsFz6itsQqVNiA43IF9yhghaVE/?imgmax=800" height="400" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Photo 09-03-2014-11.06.45.jpg" width="297" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: small;">Rewarded with cold cups of apple cider for their efforts. <br />(Toasting friends Sponge & Noggin, who, the kids suspect, <br />would love to have joined us today.)<br /></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to scrub some of these and toss them in the slow cooker with the beef roast, carrots and onions. Ta ta for now!</span>
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Please note that you can subscribe to the podcast in several ways:<br />
<br />
At the iTunes store via <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/make-it-do-farm/id886991920">this link</a>.<br />
If you are using an RSS reader or podcast app use <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Make-it-doFarm/podcast">this link</a>.<br />
<br />
Thanks and enjoy!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1789716187948829721.post-33320407566881767332014-07-31T10:55:00.000-05:002014-07-31T11:28:21.610-05:00Rhubarb and Sam, Episode 4This week in Rhubarb and Sam, astronomy! We set-up at the Tucker Creek observatory for some time at the telescope only to have a clear night turn into a not-so-clear night due to high humidity. The stars were still pretty bright in our dark skies so we settled in on the moon couch (our disc shaped outdoor couch) to record an episode. From Cygnus to Sagittarius, Saturn to Mars, take a tour of our night sky with us. There's nothing quite like pondering our place in our galaxy and our galaxy's place in the Universe. Have a listen!<br />
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<img style="display:block; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq83eydzTKyrpPbnK2kP_G9sCA5-qzcGapPYoectyOWMKNe1AhqFB82W18Ag0PRgCd7JPYzz2f2RMnCrW_w20Ky2AdHBfdnVfEidfREH4dm5EFJsmnbamKFQ5-4z_k48_XsgoHk2p2Y4g/?imgmax=800" alt="Milky Way panorama" title="Milky-Way-panorama.jpg" border="0" width="550" /><br/><br/>
Links of interest:<br/>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milky_Way">Our Milky Way Galaxy</a><br/>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_System">Our Solar System</a><br/>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globular_cluster">Globular Clusters</a><br/>
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Please note that you can subscribe to the podcast in several ways:<br />
<br />
At the iTunes store via <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/make-it-do-farm/id886991920">this link</a>.<br />
If you are using an RSS reader or podcast app use <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Make-it-doFarm/podcast">this link</a>.<br />
<br />
Thanks and enjoy!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1789716187948829721.post-35146220072695476862014-07-15T13:56:00.002-05:002014-07-15T13:56:53.243-05:00Rhubarb and Sam, Episode 3This week in Rhubarb and Sam a middle of the night discussion of identity, life on earth, feeling small and feeling large. Have a listen!<br />
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Please note that you can subscribe to the podcast in several ways:<br />
<br />
At the iTunes store via <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/make-it-do-farm/id886991920">this link</a>.<br />
If you are using an RSS reader or podcast app use <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Make-it-doFarm/podcast">this link</a>.<br />
<br />
Thanks and enjoy!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1789716187948829721.post-39519490752665549942014-06-09T21:05:00.003-05:002014-06-09T21:05:50.140-05:00Rhubarb and Sam, Episode 2This week in Rhubarb and Sam we touch on child rearing, aquarium disasters and the evolution of family life. In short, it's a balancing act that starts fresh every day. Have a listen!<br />
<br />
Please note that you can subscribe to the podcast in several ways:<br />
<br />
At the iTunes store via <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/make-it-do-farm/id886991920">this link</a>.<br />
If you are using an RSS reader or podcast app use <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Make-it-doFarm/podcast">this link</a>.<br />
<br />
Thanks and enjoy!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1789716187948829721.post-48031020321235044482014-06-06T21:43:00.002-05:002014-06-06T21:43:57.705-05:00Rhubarb and SamWe're happy and only slightly embarrassed to release unto the unsuspecting population of planet earth, our new podcast, Rhubarb and Sam. A weekly masterpiece that will both delight and depress you. Recorded live from our studio which in truth is our bed. Please, note this is a family friendly podcast (usually) and all recording is done fully clothed (usually) and we think is in good taste even if it is somewhat absurd!<br />
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Here you'll find an assortment of topics ranging from neutrinos to silly goat stories to... oh, what the hell, this is usually the end of our day "musings" which is to say, who knows what it is you'll find. Consider it a weekly mystery, 12-15 minutes in length.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1789716187948829721.post-70370735262440120782014-04-30T07:58:00.003-05:002014-04-30T07:58:55.279-05:00Nine Peas in a Pod - 2013 Family VideoSo, for the past few years I've put together a compilation of some of our family's photos and videos from the previous year, with a happy, eclectic selection of tunes. We were a little rushed and a lot late this year, but, better late than never, Denny and I managed to throw together an hour long video for your viewing pleasure. Some of you have received DVD copies of this, but for those who didn't and have some time on your hands, Denny has made a digital copy available. <div>
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<a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/itp2hji6l53lsee/2013%20Family%20Movie.mp4?n=161076288" target="_blank">Nine Peas in a Pod - 2013 Williams Henke Family Video</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18401587244734109896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1789716187948829721.post-320081804947188172014-04-20T19:47:00.001-05:002014-04-20T20:43:33.725-05:00Spring on the HomesteadSpring, as they say, is pretty much awesome.<br />
Wait, is that what they say? Oh, no. Um, yeah… spring is springing. See spring spring. Go spring go.<br />
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It has taken hours upon hours to clean up the mess left by one of our previous occupants. No more scrap metal, no more soda pop bottles, no more tools rusting in the rain, no broken down cars or old trailers, and two less ugly, rickety sheds. In place of these things there are flower beds with native flowers transplanted from Denny’s place, an herb spiral, blueberry bushes, arbors built from cedar branches, a duck pond, low rock walls and borders, safe, debris-free areas for the children to play… and more beautiful things and projects all the time.<br />
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Here are some snippets from around Make-It-Do Farm...<br />
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Daisy had triplets this year, the two bucks pictured with her and the doe in Blue’s arms in the next. We’ve been bottle-feeding the doe to make sure she gets what she needs without competing with her brothers. We’ll sell her in a couple weeks when she is weaned, as we really have no room on the farm for a goat who thinks it’s a human. =)<br />
<img alt="IMG 3354" border="0" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-YIvpEacMjqQ/U1RiwsimYDI/AAAAAAAAA5c/tA37NyVwbx8/IMG_3354.JPG?imgmax=800" height="298" title="IMG_3354.JPG" width="400" /><br />
<img alt="IMG 3617" border="0" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Rr1w1GZnyY8/U1RqP4oZvII/AAAAAAAAA6c/_vCl8LLf4aY/IMG_3617.jpg?imgmax=800" height="400" title="IMG_3617.jpg" width="298" /><br />
One of Rochel’s two bucklings. Little named this one Sniffy and the other Finder.<br />
<img alt="IMG 3358" border="0" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-rtO08tOxOQg/U1RqJAe8YAI/AAAAAAAAA6M/V_RQIYLlx3E/IMG_3358.JPG?imgmax=800" height="298" title="IMG_3358.JPG" width="400" /><br />
Yours truly opening my first shipment of paperback copies of my book.<br />
<img alt="IMG 3375" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOEbY84FwKC69yVRVzhJtrBAnzkFT9yggazViJvjDGEf0Y6jvKANyas7mxIkkw_vqiaPZoRfUUhsYYlmFd-iFC6PwuZZKMiA6lJuRxa9KS1oC3HEd5dUxJkl1qvT45Po8LAzQOIrlTFpY/?imgmax=800" height="400" title="IMG_3375.jpg" width="298" /><br />
A Denny and a Little gardening on a warm day...<br />
<img alt="IMG 3656" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD0x1VxMDJd4SFYaRKwaltYGud6qYU5Gmc23cAQ7-1GCOJ2UNQQxuDV6K89nkceoLuroN1xNa7ELycDCxYonMAaNLSEv83Au6JZGLp46nVPMP61OAKHmvkSUMh41GkvEHTHD5eJfMQDe8/?imgmax=800" height="400" title="IMG_3656.jpg" width="298" /><br />
Farra is often doing make-up and costumes just for fun. I think she and Seth are supposed to be some kind of savages...<br />
<img alt="IMG 3397" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMrXsJokne6jnQZhPhZGmr8SN27BBbFDFIXW4wpQ0oDmJL39LQVNi9We9bRZnmn9utBVSAgtZ9Lqy9DoKamyUYLPI8FNGz_bjSpspM_P7-ZqybB3TlCgQgFgmA_GGqAxOr5gw9qqBXMSg/?imgmax=800" height="298" title="IMG_3397.JPG" width="400" /><br />
Filling the duck pond...<br />
<img alt="IMG 3724" border="0" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-jf3-I0SnN1M/U1RlSooklQI/AAAAAAAAA5w/M7egVpMYHKc/IMG_3724.JPG?imgmax=800" height="300" title="IMG_3724.JPG" width="400" /><br />
Building the arbor for the raspberries. Note the duck pond in the background, surrounded by rock. Denny has been hard at work!<br />
<img alt="IMG 3729" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKivt8ZIQ7hgHrjzpXrEESVRzjqRR-SimXPMQoPvgsGskxlqkoI28E0wn81Su_dQDGZ_hVLqgG-I0NjL-2gXCOlKE1KARP-trZvvlbnrLPzL0moc7SinDfFNqgdOw0OYBce6BnZqTnJnI/?imgmax=800" height="298" title="IMG_3729.JPG" width="400" /><br />
And as always, we have been hard at work making and selling soap. Be sure to check out daisyblend.com for prices and varieties! Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18401587244734109896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1789716187948829721.post-2659339565924116392014-03-16T21:47:00.003-05:002014-03-16T21:53:13.647-05:00We Survived Winter!<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The daffy-down-dillies are pushing through the mud. Late, but most welcome. There's a patch of them a couple miles down the road that are always up a couple of weeks before ours. The children noticed them the other day, open and yellow and basking in the sunshine. The sky opened up and dumped a "wintery mix" on them today. That's just how it is. The 24 years I've lived in Missouri I can't remember a year it didn't snow on the daffodils at least once. To all the people who got ridiculously optimistic about those first sunny warm days in March I coined the adage, "Winter's not over until it snows on the daffodils." Snow on the daffodils does not mean and end of winter, however, just that spring doesn't usually arrive until sometime after that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">It's been a cold winter. A long winter. A great winter. We celebrated the first snow (which was <i>awesome!</i> 10" in mid December!) with our traditional snow party; sledding and fun in the snow followed by cutting out paper snowflakes to tape to the windows while listening to winter tunes and drinking hot chocolate. We visited with family and friends, we did a lot of school work and found a joyful rhythm with Denny in our lives. The house is filled with ample conversation and laughter now, as Denny adds his own humor and musings to our mix.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">With Denny's encouragement, advice, and the children's patience, and <i>everyone's</i> help around the house, I was able to finish writing and editing my first book and we published it last week. Wow! What a lot of work! What a humbling experience, putting my life out there for others to purchase and take part in. (You can check the book out by following the link on the sidebar.) Very satisfying and draining. Now, I have to get to work writing the second book while marketing the first one... and doing all those things I usually do.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Daisy</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Two of our three goats will be having babies within the next couple of weeks. That's probably the highlight of the farming year. Bouncy kids and fresh milk; delightful! The hens are laying plentifully again and we are finding ourselves working more eggs into our diet. In the garden, the apple trees have been pruned (another year or two and they will begin producing fruit. I can't wait!), the garlic we planted in the fall is poking through its winter blanket of mulch. The wormwood, mugwort and tansy are putting out shoots. The rest of the garden is dormant. It's difficult to imagine what a wild green monster it will be in a few months. We are planning on building some hugelkultur beds with old wood dragged in from the forest, as well as some trellises for tomatoes and beans out of cedar from last summer's observatory-area clearing. Definitely looking forward to the first big garden with Denny! The downside is that we both have bad backs. The upside is that planning is what we do best. We are going to plan for a garden that we can maintain with the least amount of stress on our backs, the work toward that goal very carefully. With lots of help from the children.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Planning and dreaming with Denny is one of my life's greatest joys now. We are always on the same line of the same page, exciting and inspiring one another. We walk around our house and property hand in hand, discussing landscaping at length. The kids pick up on our enthusiasm. The other day, while the sun was shining and promising spring, Atira, Little and Blue formed a garden bed around an old stump. Little told me, "I want to make a forest garden." Only she still doesn't pronounce her R's so it came out, "Fowest gowden." So cute! Not just any garden, but a forest garden. She has been perusing Denny's permaculture books.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">With some normality to our life, and a wonderful partnership at the family helm, important things are getting taken care of. The children are getting to the dentist and doctor for check-ups, Farra has gotten much-needed braces. Even yours truly will be visiting the dentist for the first time since she was a kid. (I'm just as terrified now as I was then. I just know they are going to frown at me. I wish I could go to the children's dentist; they are SO nice!). The vehicles are being maintained, the house is being maintained and improved (just finished putting a roof on the deck--no more tarps!), the children have a more rigorous school schedule (though still very relaxed) and with two critically-thinking teacher-parents they can't turn around without bumping into education. Ha.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I've added Denny as a contributor to this blog. I hope that between the two of us we can find a way to keep you a little more up to date! But you know how spring and summer are... so much to write about, so little time!</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18401587244734109896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1789716187948829721.post-30717298884724418892013-12-21T18:46:00.000-06:002013-12-21T18:46:20.436-06:00Where did the summer go?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
(Whoops! Meant to post this a month ago!)</div>
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Wow, here we are, almost through November already. Just celebrated the last of the family birthdays for the year with Atira turning 12 and Farra turning 14. The other wee ones; Seth, 10; Blue, 8; Royal, 6; Little, 4; Justin, 2. Come January they'll start turning odd again. ;)</div>
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Little bit of fall fun</div>
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Farra</div>
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Blue</div>
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Denny and the observatory deck with "Tardis" (in progress) telescope shed. We spent many hours clearing out scrub oaks and cedars to open up a little sky. Well worth the effort! Just a short walk from the house, right by the shut-ins on our creek... very nice viewing by night or by day.</div>
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A few of the kids dressed up for their first Halloween. </div>
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We were adopted by a young Canada goose this summer, much to Denny's joy. She <i>is</i> a dear, but I'm not sure I want to encourage him in letting her follow him into the house!</div>
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As luck would have it, soon after we began to consider adding a Pyrenees puppy to the family (before our old Murphy gets <i>too </i>old), we met some folks who were willing to give us their last pup. Everyone gave Feynman a warm welcome.</div>
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Little, rolling out some pizza dough</div>
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Seth</div>
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Royal being studious</div>
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Justin being a cutermus.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18401587244734109896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1789716187948829721.post-88746422478475838202013-08-04T17:16:00.000-05:002013-08-04T17:19:46.231-05:00Farm Update<div designtimesp="17165">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Been awhile since I've shared one of these, eh? I blame
Facebook. Or credit Facebook. Or something. I usually share photos on our
business Facebook page, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DaisyblendOrganicCreations">Daisyblend Organic
Creations</a>. Lately I share the little newsy things there and save the
lengthy, in-depth things for here. You can find me on Facebook by clicking on
the badge on the sidebar. Be sure to visit and "like" the Daisyblend page,
too.</span></div>
<div designtimesp="17165">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Usually I have a lovely garden update for you this time of year. Well, let
me tell you the garden is looking so very lush and green with all the rain we've
had this summer...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZP0uKVR_Y4apGOXbxW2ekvXbCbexcqfx8hNCu3WnOiBb2GoZ6tkKZHOjkf0GDEFteb2xTpYghxw5rLfC8ZdcDq2N3Dse66Vh9UIWZODfXStmjtXFSs0VzSc8cGcAjMBbgcQchktfl-4o/s1600/056.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZP0uKVR_Y4apGOXbxW2ekvXbCbexcqfx8hNCu3WnOiBb2GoZ6tkKZHOjkf0GDEFteb2xTpYghxw5rLfC8ZdcDq2N3Dse66Vh9UIWZODfXStmjtXFSs0VzSc8cGcAjMBbgcQchktfl-4o/s400/056.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Of course, most of that is weeds.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">In February I started tomatoes, peppers and some flowers and herbs in the
greenhouse. We had a long, cool spring so I paid dearly for those plants,
running a heater to keep them warm. The tomatoes did okay, the peppers died and
we have a few flowers to transplant. By April I knew this was not going to be a
year I could focus on gardening, so I decided to just put in a few things and
not worry about the rest. Before Denny even moved in he was over here helping
us prepare garden beds, putting in the tomatoes and some peppers I bought from a
friend. We also managed to slip in some Chinese Red Noodle beans, which are
blooming so prettily right now...</span><br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiatrF3bKZQaByJFUp5w1JVfWgnL06iKsdGhMdrfdjFU_15riBRp-8hpewf0zwyzOFnvSOSWjT2pGGiPdiBPjyhwpOxD9xCuVMD6BrR-9WChENL9GT_CS5rzNyuznM5BXJ9VpL9brFvoW8/s1600/068.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiatrF3bKZQaByJFUp5w1JVfWgnL06iKsdGhMdrfdjFU_15riBRp-8hpewf0zwyzOFnvSOSWjT2pGGiPdiBPjyhwpOxD9xCuVMD6BrR-9WChENL9GT_CS5rzNyuznM5BXJ9VpL9brFvoW8/s400/068.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Almost ready to pick...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFz2gdtBVPePViBKvxY08Zk7WblC1gg9_GY1-7d9dv0kzhf9vUMR3sSHM3-db1HAJNwwkxAeOYCZn6HnsXpdqlBkDHJjW_52ABV75txwv9iWD56_jlQeGMzTkr8PiwPStXvW80lwy9s9Q/s1600/070.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFz2gdtBVPePViBKvxY08Zk7WblC1gg9_GY1-7d9dv0kzhf9vUMR3sSHM3-db1HAJNwwkxAeOYCZn6HnsXpdqlBkDHJjW_52ABV75txwv9iWD56_jlQeGMzTkr8PiwPStXvW80lwy9s9Q/s400/070.JPG" width="301" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The kids and I grew these last year and love them. Next year we will grow
tons, skipping the green beans altogether. I slipped down to the garden this
morning to nab these photos. I have one calendula plant blooming...</span><br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTBDhcAPZARj3rj0aNobvf_3EvX1voNp3ZE5lbNRpTsb0CCR-jCDiccB5CkSELGlahs5s3DnlRReURSVYlOXHZwk49P4K19AebaUFLdFaSeKCfbOr3xd8DQHjv2wA7sVPcCvqMyevIhOM/s1600/064.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTBDhcAPZARj3rj0aNobvf_3EvX1voNp3ZE5lbNRpTsb0CCR-jCDiccB5CkSELGlahs5s3DnlRReURSVYlOXHZwk49P4K19AebaUFLdFaSeKCfbOr3xd8DQHjv2wA7sVPcCvqMyevIhOM/s320/064.JPG" width="241" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The peppers are doing well, and the wildly growing tomato plants are
beginning to produce. I harvested the garlic we planted in the fall; another
one of those crops I enjoy and hope to grow much of next year. The rest of the
garden, well... Yeah. The perennial herb beds are overgrown and need
attention and the rest... Eh, the ducks and the goose are enjoying it. It feels
so strange to not have a big garden this year, but it was a good call. Denny
enjoys gardening and this fall we will cover the entire fenced-in veggie garden
with compost and mulch, nice and thick. Then we will start planning for
spring. Our homeschool group received another large donation of seeds from
Baker Creek, so we are up to our ears in choices.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Denny has written at his blog about <a href="http://ourtomorrow.blogspot.com/2013/08/bringing-permaculture-to-make-it-do_3.html">bringing
permaculture to Make-It-Do Farm</a>. As he says there, I am not new to the idea
of permaculture and have been implementing some of it through the years. During
the winter, when I discovered that he was into permaculture and writing
articles about it for a local newspaper I considered having him come over
and brainstorm with me regarding my farm. One of my favorite things! (So, he
came over and decided to stay, what can I say?) The problem here has been
two-fold: 1) not enough time and money to install proper goat fencing, limiting
all my gardening to a 50'x60' fenced area I knew I could keep the goats out of
and 2) not having enough time and energy to do much more than I was already
doing. There was always something around here... between raising children,
chasing goats, housecleaning, cooking, routine maintenance on the house and
property... Well, I needn't tell you all the things that eat up a mother's
time, but I should stress that I was juggling everything myself, almost
functioning as a single mother. Stress, yes, good choice of words. On top of
having to manage all the typical responsibilities that a husband and
wife generally share, I found myself often burdened with having to help my
husband find work and to find ways to make ends meet when he wasn't working.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">It's beyond awesome having Denny here, forming a partnership in all areas,
having his opinions and expertise. One of the first things he got excited about
regarding the farm was beautifying our dooryard. As he shared his vision with
me I couldn't help but tear up just a wee bit. I had wanted so desperately to
clean our place up and make it inviting and pretty with stones and pretty
flowerbeds. I had been rather in despair regarding our property, actually. I
was embarrassed to have people over, the property was such a dump. I would
gather the kids and we would try to clean it up periodically, but it seemed an
effort in futility. There would be piles of scrap metal and soda bottles and
tools littering the place again within a couple weeks. I was the only one who
cared, the only one putting forth any effort. I daren't try to clean it up AND
make it pretty and inviting. What would be the point? Sigh. Anyway, it's nice
to have a partner who cares now. And who is willing to help clean up the junk
AND help beautify it AND help maintain it all.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Now I wish I had some "before" pictures, but, of course, as embarrassed as I
was by it all I refused to allow it to be photographed! But here are some of
the things Denny has worked out...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Building a bed with the stones that were migrating from alongside the
driveway and taking over the dooryard, piling the beds high with old logs,
leaves and straw, compost and soil, planting some perennials that he dug up from
his place on the lake. I can't look at this without being overwhelmed... It
means so much to me. The picture doesn't do it justice. So sweet and charming.
</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ZsMNVbuOSTAT8u1AbBLI3jtwLJAdzSeytuz6fWe7rvQw3qrvfDM6T32qEkhXFZgNLGMtALTZXhfqG4dvZC0ehPksr7abOWtWGTJY7ius-f3hUooDvNTtL8nK-9HJoaVOMx61vv5BDk8/s1600/046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ZsMNVbuOSTAT8u1AbBLI3jtwLJAdzSeytuz6fWe7rvQw3qrvfDM6T32qEkhXFZgNLGMtALTZXhfqG4dvZC0ehPksr7abOWtWGTJY7ius-f3hUooDvNTtL8nK-9HJoaVOMx61vv5BDk8/s400/046.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">From the other side... an herb spiral with lavender, skullcap, garlic chives
and oregano. For now. More to come. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg91NS-DCOW5-qCgz9HmHDFq6BTptHLhHcC-ldkuHOFWxu7FqyYNVYcWqukjYy7N_XD6rC82kgsHZkPs_VjjPVX6XD_3MggRi5KQKqLJ_naDnSU7mIMGSTOW9f1A7W0gMMuzMpuM_crzlA/s1600/074.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg91NS-DCOW5-qCgz9HmHDFq6BTptHLhHcC-ldkuHOFWxu7FqyYNVYcWqukjYy7N_XD6rC82kgsHZkPs_VjjPVX6XD_3MggRi5KQKqLJ_naDnSU7mIMGSTOW9f1A7W0gMMuzMpuM_crzlA/s400/074.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Hostas, ferns and wild ginger gainst the front of the house... (Sorry! Bad pic. Rainy morning, low light.)</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnAR1wsIe-oqmtvAo7dWnBhAj6FVMbOkmpXucJkhsL5CLxNYeipGo6TRsIlVSgVlP1cIIJ6h4PZAufO9wURx2fMb2GDqXKphyphenhyphenkdMMtd33qbL71PuMgl3_rqQ9Q7E3bYlYyh2dBnXyv74Q/s1600/042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnAR1wsIe-oqmtvAo7dWnBhAj6FVMbOkmpXucJkhsL5CLxNYeipGo6TRsIlVSgVlP1cIIJ6h4PZAufO9wURx2fMb2GDqXKphyphenhyphenkdMMtd33qbL71PuMgl3_rqQ9Q7E3bYlYyh2dBnXyv74Q/s400/042.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Denny with Little, Atira and Blue, setting stones and concrete pavers around
the front stoop.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgczBy7fVdaTWBUwdAT7zhaBdAHaVTqjMu08zR3RF2QpG4H809H58ESXYRV_nXjazAB2L71AfthEHAuspwmF0A4Cz2WnipGEz76UvjAZzcFqWoSJUz8CySjyNZZr6qeFXhXVUmDkYMBjVM/s1600/035.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgczBy7fVdaTWBUwdAT7zhaBdAHaVTqjMu08zR3RF2QpG4H809H58ESXYRV_nXjazAB2L71AfthEHAuspwmF0A4Cz2WnipGEz76UvjAZzcFqWoSJUz8CySjyNZZr6qeFXhXVUmDkYMBjVM/s400/035.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8XEzuHm27I6Bg0lqx6vq3Pxi_oFtPjrKXYk9wCA0DaUVy8Xhz95ljuHSL3xKIAOI83_ge83A6dDdG6tJp8KTT6tfyCJVOX42oxsYfHyvW_DWt80l3rb924XWqJ9vf5Z23wSAkV6MJoqo/s1600/047.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8XEzuHm27I6Bg0lqx6vq3Pxi_oFtPjrKXYk9wCA0DaUVy8Xhz95ljuHSL3xKIAOI83_ge83A6dDdG6tJp8KTT6tfyCJVOX42oxsYfHyvW_DWt80l3rb924XWqJ9vf5Z23wSAkV6MJoqo/s320/047.JPG" width="241" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Sigh. I love it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">It's weird, though, reading about it all on his blog. I find myself with
mixed feelings. I am so in love with him and all he is doing and I feel very
much a part of it, not at all like he is taking over, nothing like that. I
love the fact that because he is joining me in taking care of all the must-do's
around the place we are both freed up to work on some fun and beautiful projects
together. I love that we share a vision. We both love to dream this stuff up,
we share an asthetic sense as well as sense of economy (making projects
beautiful, natural and inexpensive), we both enjoy getting our hands dirty and
involving the children. But there's something that bugged me after reading his
post and it took me awhile to put my finger on it. And, well, I guess I am a
little bitter about my past. These are things I would have liked to do all
along... making my house and property pretty as well as functional. How I wish
I'd been able to plant flowers everywhere and to lay stones out front! I feel
like I was rarely able to make "beautiful" happen. I was swamped and alone,
barely able to get the necessary stuff done. I had time to focus on doing one
thing well and that was raising the children, which I think I have done fairly
well so far, if I do say so myself. But it seemed like the place was falling
down around my ears. I had to take a walk around this morning and remember
everything I <em>have</em> accomplished over the almost seven years I've been
here, what this place was like when we first moved here. If it weren't for me
there wouldn't be a beautiful (lush, green, weedy) garden and yard, fruit trees,
fencing, chicken coop, goat barn, chickens, goats, cats, or seven
fantabulous, beaming children. There have been some improvements to the home
because of my initiative; a better deck with a roof, decent siding, better
windows and doors, etc. And my home is comfortable, if rather, uh... lived in,
and everyone who walks through the door finds ample hospitality.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I get too easily focused on the things I haven't done or couldn't do, in
every area of my life.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I am so grateful that Denny was willing to throw his lot in with us. There
was so much to be done here. He saw our beautiful property and saw the
potential, yes, but he was willing to help get the place up to par before
jumping into the purely fun projects. We had plumbing issues; a bucket under
the kitchen sink because it wouldn't drain, a toilet that wouldn't flush, a
clogged bathroom sink. We had goat issues; the area Bobby and I had tried to
fence was not holding them. We had money issues and heart issues, too. When I
think of what the man has taken on... I can't help but believe him when he
tells me that he loves me and the children and thinks we are the most amazing
people he has ever met. What else could possibly possess him to burden himself
with all of this? He will give a slightly exasperated sigh reading this. "You
are <em>not</em> a burden," he will say for the 28th and a half time. And I
understand. What we have, it is no burden. He is not some hero, swooping in to
rescue us... he is another human who has his own needs and desires and we
are joining forces. He benefits from the life and vitality here, the love and
friendship. The partnership. The family. There is much joy and peace and
satisfaction as we merge lives. I look forward to what every day brings.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18401587244734109896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1789716187948829721.post-30824604211952235202013-06-23T20:59:00.001-05:002013-06-23T20:59:32.059-05:00Daisyblend Organic Creations<span style="font-size: large;">Oh my! I don't believe I've formally introduced our new website! I'd like to draw your attention over to the right sidebar, particularly the beautiful logo Denny created for me. Daisyblend Organic Creations. Clicking on the image will take you to the beautiful website Denny helped me design (okay, honestly, I helped him design it and only very little at that) to sell our soap and my sewing creations. You can purchase items there or just browse around. There's lots of great stuff to see!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18401587244734109896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1789716187948829721.post-69455727453547859882013-06-05T09:10:00.001-05:002013-06-11T07:17:33.194-05:00Marriage and Divorce-- A Much Needed Update<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Some of you follow me only on this blog, some on Facebook, some of you are local friends, some of you are long distance friends, some of you I have met, some I have not, some of you are strangers who have happened across this blog by chance, some are of you are curious friends I have directed to this post and a lot of you are more than one if the above. Some of you are understanding types and some just come here for fuel to feed your fire of dislike for me. Do you have any idea how hard it is to write for such a varied audience?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> There is so much I want to share with the world right now. My heart is bursting. So much has happened the last few months, I hardly know how to catch you up. And I hardly have the time. (That’s often the case, I find. When I have much to write about, I have little time in which to do so.) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> This is going to be harder than I thought. You see, I want to tell you that Bobby and I are divorcing. You and going to choke on that a little, maybe. Some of you are going to want to know why. I can tell you what I told some close friends early on, but I find myself still unwilling to speak directly against Bobby in public (unfortunately he does not feel the need for the same restraint). No good comes of it. So, I cannot fully explain to you how we got here. The reasons are as numerous and varied as those we have for parting ways with religion several months ago. I can simply tell you that one day in early April I got up the guts to give up on our marriage like he had years ago. I was so tired of holding everything together by myself. I had thought for some time that maybe it would be better to cut loose. I was the one holding it all together anyway; our relationship, the household, the finances, the care of the children... I just couldn't do it anymore. So stressed, so lonely. There is no place more lonely than a bad marriage.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> Is that clear enough? I want to be honest without bad-mouthing Bobby.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The following is part of a letter I wrote to some friends in early May:</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Those who have spent much time getting to know my family are generally not very surprised and some very close to me wonder why I waited this long. And there are and will be others, pointing fingers, thinking and even voicing, "See? They don't believe in God any more and now look at them." Oh well. It is what it is. We are no more a broken family now than we have been for 14 years, but now we have a chance to heal. Yes, I have tasted new freedoms from Christ and yes, a whole new world opened up before me and sweet hope for a happy life and yes, it made me more painfully aware of the abuse and neglect going on under my roof and no, I couldn't imagine another year of it, let alone a lifetime. Not for me, not for the kids. This will be a bumpy road and we will always carry scars, but there is sunshine on the other side. I can see it, smell it, taste it. Our past will be the sound of our feet upon the ground as we carry on.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">If I had to sum up "why" this is happening I guess I would point to the Serenity Prayer; "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference." It is not a prayer for me, more of a meditation. The thing is, I believe I have gained wisdom about the difference between the things I can change and the things that I can't and every day the courage required to make the necessary changes has grown. I am facing giants. I am terrified, but I am doing it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> So, here we are a month after sharing that… and I have more news. Again, I will resort to the borrowing of something I wrote to a friend in early May: </span><br />
<blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">I would like to share one other bit of news with you, about my hope for the future. For me, for my kids. It's a delicate situation. The timing here is just crazy... getting free of religion and exploring the world that opened up to me, beginning to consider more frequently and more thoroughly the possibility of leaving Bobby (hard to say me leaving him--he left a long time ago, he just lives here still)... every week, every day seeing things more clearly... becoming more horrified at living the rest of my life this way, of how the kids would turn out under this kind of stressful relationship (or lack thereof) and Bobby's unrealistic view of the world... Ah, there was so much going on. And my new geek friends were becoming very dear to me. They never pushed, never suggested I leave Bobby, they just listened... and I grew stronger, more courageous.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> And then there was Denny Henke. My favorite geek.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> I don't know just when it happened... our friendship grew so gradually. Looking back I see the signs, but I don't know where I could have drawn the line, where I could have cut it off, or IF I could have. Never once did he indicate any interest in me beyond what he was offering to everyone else; friendship. You just have to know him, I guess, but he's that kind of person. Open. Engaging. Connected to the world and the animals and the people around him. Our geek talks turned into life talks and he had a way of making everything seem okay. He "got" it. He "got" me. He made being human, being a less-than-perfect individual, seem... well... acceptable. Natural. It almost became a challenge of mine to throw things at him to see what he would do with them. He took everything in stride; carefully observing and understanding and communicating. Always.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> I had met my match in perception, compassion, thoughtfulness, communicability, humor and more. There really was no stopping this friendship. We fascinated and inspired one another. I was so grateful just to call such a person my friend.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> Sometime mid-April things came to a head here at home. Bobby hadn't been working for two or three weeks, I was trying to juggle everything by myself, as usual... and I realized that I had been carrying our marriage itself, by myself, for too long. We weren't partners; I was a single mom with 8 kids; 7 adorable ones and a rebellious teenager. And that day I wondered, what would happen if I stopped caring about the marriage, too? And that was that. I let it go. Gone. I was no longer hurt and felt he could do little to hurt me ever again. I communicated this to him and he soon moved out.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> I am not one to do things half-heartedly. You may have noticed that I give my all in everything. Full throttle. So, when I decided to give up on trying to love a man who could not or would not love me (just how deep the neglect and rejection, I have managed to hide from most people) it freed my heart to love elsewhere. And love elsewhere I do now, very deeply. And it is reciprocated, very deeply. It feels somewhat insane, developing the most amazing, the most satisfying relationship I have ever known while under the stress and pressure of dissolving a 13.5 year marriage. I suspect it's not altogether uncommon, though. I have examined it closely for signs that it is only a temporary thing, something to get me through until I get on my feet... </span></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">And I don't believe it is.</span></div>
</blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Okay, so… those of you who have been reading this blog for any length of time aren’t remotely surprised by any of this, I’m sure. You’ve seen the lack of Bobby’s involvement as well as my fascination with Denny. <shrug> It is what it is. Maybe you think that plunging right from one relationship into another just smacks of… well, just smacks. But I ask you to consider that although I have been married, I have not had a relationship with Bobby for a long time, try as I might. Maybe I should be grieving through this divorce? No… I had enough pain and sorrow during the marriage. I am ready to be happy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> I want to share more about Denny with you, but I think I will save that for another post… or posts. You will find he is very involved in life on Make-It-Do Farm and so will show up here often. Let me just say for now that I am the happiest woman in the world. I used to imagine what true love must be like. I have memories of my thoughts on love as a young teen, what I wanted, what I thought it should look like, and yet convinced myself that I’d picked up those ideas in fairy tales and that real life doesn’t happen that way. During my marriage I obviously had to suppress any thoughts of or inclination toward romantic love just to cope, but… I am pleased to tell you that dreams do come true. Denny and I connect so completely… Sigh. Yes. I think I will have to save it all for another time. But do this, for now, if you find yourself wanting to know more: visit <a href="http://daisyblend.com/">daisyblend.com</a>. This is the webpage Denny and I set up for our soap and our sewing creations. Denny got a head start and wrote a lot of the text for me, thinking I would replace it later, but he so perfectly captured everything about life here and our motivation for doing what we do, our enjoyment of it all… The things he wrote, beautiful in their own right, also serve as evidence of how he “gets it.” Read it and try to tell me we are not a perfect match. (The only text I have written for that site so far is the blurb about sewing and a bit about the soap.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> Stay tuned… there are wonderful goings on here at Make-It-Do Farm.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18401587244734109896noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1789716187948829721.post-89511099360588100912013-04-17T09:21:00.001-05:002013-04-17T09:21:58.653-05:00Stunning photos<p align="left"><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="4">I had some friends over Sunday. My friend Russ is a stupendous photographer and took the opportunity follow the kids around with his camera. He sent these to me today with this note, “<span style="text-align: left; text-transform: none; background-color: rgb(255,255,255); text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; display: inline !important; font: 13px/11px 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; white-space: normal; float: none; color: rgb(51,51,51); word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px">WARNING: Nearly unbearable cuteness headed your way!” I’ll say! Thank you so much, Russ. What a treat!</span></font></font></p> <p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg88zgxQD6hFxSmUkbnXq0qshy3ZuOGweWG-X9jbu_eKelp6HDHNvgy4cCfTgDxwrnw-D4X3yiGbJRBxr0iy1aMcedCFeYu4_FmRWqKUyc8o7ccOLHt5RuC020xJ96qfHuZMs25wNSV0aQ/s1600-h/14081_462169640527894_828381546_n%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="14081_462169640527894_828381546_n" border="0" alt="14081_462169640527894_828381546_n" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifc8qgqMz3t4rOBs53MHHq61AKQ8sS3N437VwjX-p1qc61Pppot3qntmA3WmWJXBeez0QYFr1rlXiU6aio-dl_rRnwQVAH2QpnR5yVZPxAwuygfGapHhMB4GG0LJQRj0m7Pketdq0eBM4/?imgmax=800" width="414" height="650"></font></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyXi7tTvJHqx7tARI6vHdKmzrwZcVmUV6xc8Iw48W0iiSr9Lx048GbHhgjh45qx5gfFPzeALn9TCPy3LJSC4OTxTnRgwUZdTP2zBcYAZS-I7XK0WiAbqh2p28fY4-9bA8e65Is_gWDoVI/s1600-h/533583_462168233861368_227361962_n%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="533583_462168233861368_227361962_n" border="0" alt="533583_462168233861368_227361962_n" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-hgz_BpcZbMQ/UW6vaB4lfPI/AAAAAAAAAm4/4YuqKnbsnEg/533583_462168233861368_227361962_n_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="414" height="291"></font></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif9m3WUpTQ3txikGOV-hc6vvLuaHA5u0gGDc_romO8ZGFP7D9NUx2qngDbSRknd75NYhAibwDf3N1EAQ2uhh0jRfLJP6Lgrrl8-Rc6GK5wsgKn5lkaPf8VQDjVlhgR0o6JZOOBaFChO18/s1600-h/62796_462168463861345_1860630663_n%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="62796_462168463861345_1860630663_n" border="0" alt="62796_462168463861345_1860630663_n" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvYLwzGvoO03dMSLwT1ZOrBQ22Qi9znv2HlNvv5uiSgTE4vd6WXCKDFzXQwJYysHkz8ZrCrTA5dyWK__3B86SYpCCZYaesOrvlkL01EIxTJX7vcvxeSCygUQZ_Sl1F4xqCHdffegEHDyo/?imgmax=800" width="420" height="649"></font></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjegG9_IheDfKKaabTUFPyY1vBxelIlJ0D6Y9pKlPgN0MVM4DgxvEcZjSJ6G_cjNIOs1CATd3FRdrO669eISuh7O9n4Emf5stS8oAvllRXZJ4Ct36vbd77JNYtpt5z9D6jy6eDQZmZm0yw/s1600-h/522016_462159547195570_1775671376_n%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="522016_462159547195570_1775671376_n" border="0" alt="522016_462159547195570_1775671376_n" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxDpG1ioASW3gusuCJIvtbTSZW9jzxIIq0pg71WhBcAcAfX6dgKiFc4ZxRaYxPz6kUIh_hEpZUOIAr4ZGNieD5AhNbFWRl-uq6zkyLg7pz6fsw7-32j7U32cu9rjazOfUcVgAqJeASHdQ/?imgmax=800" width="424" height="664"></font></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjyVf8Ocl1y2-I1rV2Z6X8zuklx8SJrup92LSOF1fqjmUxBT0PORLTlY74WW9oR5gFepSphg9Mi_6AYJr4PEaO2PfAy4tvhF2kRB2v2r5u02Uh6zBTdfw2akINuv-detQQrM5znQo1rSk/s1600-h/525198_462166823861509_504547884_n%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="525198_462166823861509_504547884_n" border="0" alt="525198_462166823861509_504547884_n" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-XTm5-9HmL88/UW6viRpcvSI/AAAAAAAAAno/gO6yteqaYNQ/525198_462166823861509_504547884_n_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="423" height="297"></font></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA-lv56862HPQf1Qx7dlaph4jPE7f5YqLqqMqFkUme9lOJZoWJcPrqMJ-JQ-o0geQmAjmMcNbuzEc2Tda4wyB7bmBlFDPI9O92W6hzV-X8y1P2MZnyYNv10I9_Fe7t698ZSs0AOLpyGr8/s1600-h/534763_462160810528777_570982470_n%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="534763_462160810528777_570982470_n" border="0" alt="534763_462160810528777_570982470_n" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUm2aeDl_6Y2LMd3Bw5O5_wyFuHCDri-3zxjCgW5TDTCVP5iMc5gqQv37DZmk5b6QINB3BcZYq4Kp4ZAkffk7VokBOJXj3dY00899G01GhDB6FtXmDXLup7JcbNqh0zuVAycyGWR3TXJw/?imgmax=800" width="427" height="674"></font></a></p> <p align="center"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He even snuck one of yours truly.</font></p> <p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvpp-lSqr9cL3N8D_LrXevG79vYV1jVIuJsdXUQMWpHVPjGnnjnEE0ZaNJ5A5libo9uAFaMS4YgIfPsNJ9_vNGDUEc9lWGnpy5PNplop6oWtP6hMVkWYBYDMR1Cg9B5WDjtHzyXlbNa9Q/s1600-h/11517_462169380527920_1988102485_n%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; 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border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="555007_462165080528350_535336033_n" border="0" alt="555007_462165080528350_535336033_n" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-D7Xxx6M3MvE/UW6v7Is2RzI/AAAAAAAAApo/pP5mibpKL9o/555007_462165080528350_535336033_n_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="451" height="706"></font></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilfARPqPi1yJ6qK0iYwpVHDqDgprWg3iFcj6wvWr2n2aJN_7lthpMdz0yEYKuhgj5d6Md50KEbDwaR5QD69m45zTFJi_yzpUdBycrkvtgGIxgDGlY9USx1_yIBE0ChpNOyN-tuOluPuJ8/s1600-h/644208_462168650527993_594733242_n%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="644208_462168650527993_594733242_n" border="0" alt="644208_462168650527993_594733242_n" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuTI15-vNs7NRnfumj4zYOhCCMi8F7UQAXO757aVOPu18xTldM56h4luPVbQuqLmCYFSY0l2oEU_jr7w7bxm5DmLpksvqVPQwshbe0_UGRIJzx_MpZZcvAfLGETywOETo8qFlFvwdRBoU/?imgmax=800" width="452" height="708"></font></a><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-GpPLT3Ad0Zg/UW6v_SePrfI/AAAAAAAAAqA/aDY9vWWCKwg/s1600-h/Blue%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Blue" border="0" alt="Blue" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8_eznK672O2wLrGJP4PipeO6AKvWBFy9KmXtVQLHz8IqdgfwHvDUHncyvzfCSQi3GCR85k6ZIj77jjC6GjAtGTEYsjHc0Y4FS9LN-3724bV_E4Y-rQ5fiLMYEUfqn85h9ML9iYz8u2Yo/?imgmax=800" width="452" height="708"></font></a></p> <p align="center"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p> <p align="center"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p> <p align="center"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p> <p align="center"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p> <p align="center"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p> <p align="left"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">You can view more of Russell Middleton Imagery’s photos or contact him on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/russellmiddleton.imagery?fref=ts">Facebook</a>.</font></p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18401587244734109896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1789716187948829721.post-54751481258664306452013-04-05T08:32:00.001-05:002013-04-05T08:52:32.720-05:00Under The Stars Again<span lang="EN"> </span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: large;">Apparently I cannot have a beautiful night without sharing about it.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN">I’d had an exciting day yesterday and was beginning to come down from my high, chewing an the events of the day, breathing deep and trying to ease my way down instead of crash-landing as I am wont to do. A night under the stars would be just the thing. It was forecast to be clear soon after dark, the first clear night in awhile and the only one in sight for at least a few more earth-rotations. I was looking forward to unwinding at the telescope in the company of a friend.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The night sky is incredibly therapeutic. It’s easy to relax in the dark, your sense of touch and hearing heightened (we had a bonus chorus of spring peepers last night), even your vision is heightened in a way. It’s simple bliss to lose yourself in distant galaxies, nebulae, star clusters. Mapping deep space objects and logging them is almost like sitting down to a beautiful jigsaw puzzle. It's nice to just work on something for awhile, let your brain be pleasantly, quietly occupied. If you want to go deeper you can read about each of the objects, learning about them, and to go deeper you just… contemplate. Just stop and consider that the fuzzy, faint star-looking thing in your lens is another <em>galaxy</em>, maybe millions of light years away. Think about that for a minute. Don’t you feel small, insignificant and somehow… special? You can plug away at finding objects and logging them, but if you let what you’re doing really sink in it enhances the experience like nothing else.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I’ve only had just a few nights to get comfortable at the telescope, but already I see a pattern emerging; spend 20-30 minutes just enjoying the sky, unwinding, letting my eyes adjust and letting the day go; digging in and logging some objects, learning some constellations, then stepping back and really… seeing. I set the logbook aside and play with the scope, meandering through the sky to see what I can see for the pure pleasure and wonder of it. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyBLdC0NuwIaM4A5aQVq5CxUajCq3CGxbWZTeAwEShQxc2Gz7lTTrAZVoYea7_Q0ZcuxFCK-EmeHs4SlnyQxJRDdq6fuFLSVwOalgD-lqV3jdUU8I6NBFTdz1ei5CMErF1i0n6iM8IBv8/s1600/M57_The_Ring_Nebula.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyBLdC0NuwIaM4A5aQVq5CxUajCq3CGxbWZTeAwEShQxc2Gz7lTTrAZVoYea7_Q0ZcuxFCK-EmeHs4SlnyQxJRDdq6fuFLSVwOalgD-lqV3jdUU8I6NBFTdz1ei5CMErF1i0n6iM8IBv8/s1600/M57_The_Ring_Nebula.JPG" /></span></a></div>
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(M57 The Ring Nebula. One of the objects we viewed last night. Granted, it doesn't look quite this spectacular in the scopes we use, but it's still worth a <i>wow</i>.)</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">So, there's that.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And in my particular case, as I’m viewing at a friend’s place with one of his telescopes, often with other amateur astronomer friends, there's the added bonus of <em>companionship</em>. There's someone to banter with, ask questions of, share geeky star stuff with. Better yet, these have become good friends with whom I am comfortable totally unloading my brain of whatever junk needs unloading and who often help me organize it, make peace with it and pack it back up. And this is totally mutual. Friendship in the most basic and beautiful sense. Human connection. Mahna mahna.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now, maybe I’m easy to please; just plop me under the stars on a clear night and give me someone to share it with, but I ask you, is there a better way to spend an evening?</span></div>
</span> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18401587244734109896noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1789716187948829721.post-34660503835395961412013-04-01T01:12:00.001-05:002013-04-01T01:17:44.702-05:00Meeting Saturn<span lang="EN"> </span><br />
<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;"><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-h5L3ngofFI8/UVklOj-yfpI/AAAAAAAAAkE/Li7sUVgXvNI/s1600-h/saturn%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img alt="saturn" border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxdwB3P7bKCIqFpO4nOiVu9Z19V_TE95hXKM5mzNVjMS_gt1qTCjgub7fqA9xsUwTPMyHwmABhuuRg4dFw1wR03fAwyZ1sF8HOgFxsF1yBewwiHcwYLwqJvn_jzer4VbUX31En-p3FOic/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="saturn" width="260" /></a></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I just returned home from an evening at Denny’s place. Yeah, I should be sleeping, but this can't wait. Maybe I could write tomorrow, but maybe sleep will kill the magic.</span><br />
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We had a nice dinner with friends, the children got to kayak around the lake some, and we got a little telescope time in before the sky clouded up again. Not a lot of clouds, but enough. So, the evening turned to rambling, thoughtful, humorous conversation under peek-a-boo stars. I could devote an entire post to how enjoyable and <em>comfortable</em> it all was and how it satisfied (or maybe just viciously stirred up) some deep need of mine to connect with other human beings, but I will spare you. When I finally gave in to my better and less interesting judgment that I should go home, Denny checked the time and realized that Saturn would be up and visible with the scope. An unexpected treat for me.</span><br />
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A few months ago Denny introduced me to Jupiter. I clearly remember my first glimpse of those red bands and the nearby tiny points of light I was told were its moons. I unexpectedly fell in love. Meeting Saturn tonight was like meeting someone you have heard things about and have looked forward to meeting, wondering if they would be as impressive as you expected. When I stepped up to the scope I thought briefly several guys I’d met when I was a teen, first online and later in person. Thankfully, no awkward expectations here! Saturn was… wow. Unreal. So bright, so beautiful, so… iconic. I wanted to cry. What a perfect nightcap.</span><br />
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I’m now a rather raw bundle of emotion after exploring the inner-workings of mankind <em>and</em> the universe. The minute and personal <em>and</em> the vast and impersonal. A bumbling girl struggling under a mountain of random and often errant thoughts, trying to make peace with her base humanity, reaching out and not only connecting with another human but with the whole damn universe. I feel at once extremely lucky and extremely… small.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18401587244734109896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1789716187948829721.post-60061173901644683892013-03-26T06:57:00.002-05:002013-03-26T06:57:15.750-05:00Boo Boo GooI love using natural products, especially when I can replace a store-bought, petroleum-based product with a natural product, and even more so when I can make that product myself. I few years ago some friends gave us some homemade natural healing salve. We came to call it "Boo Boo Goo." I've been meaning to make my own forever, but just never got around to ordering beeswax and all that. Well, I finally did it. I found this recipe, which sounded perfect: www.mrshappyhomemaker.com/2012/11/healing-boo-boo-salve-a-k-a-homemade-natural-neosporin/<br />
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Should you attempt this, beware the honey does NOT want to mix in! I stirred mine as it cooled to mix the honey up, which got kind of messy and ruins the perfectly poured look, but it worked. Next time I will just add the honey after the salve begun to solidify. Anyway, it came out wonderfully. I've even used it a few nights as a healing lotion on my hands and they are amazingly soft in the morning, with any cuts, scrapes or cracks in the dry skin feeling all better.<br /><br />
This time around I ordered the comfrey and calendula from the shop on Etsy recommended in the blog link above. This summer I will hopefully, finally have my own comfrey patch, and I often grow calendula. I will definitely make a bunch of this salve.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18401587244734109896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1789716187948829721.post-68173868431019923122013-03-18T22:33:00.001-05:002013-03-18T22:33:53.779-05:00And More Baby Goats<p><font size="3">Amazing how returning to this blog feels almost like coming home. Like coming home and like “getting away from it all” at the same time. Neglected for over a year, it’s time to throw open the windows, dust off the furniture, start some dinner in the crockpot, post some flowers…</font></p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4A2ZMrpc6b7qskUfOoqjb114h0DAV-ckQZMTYIdAyP-1E09q-hTznarnlkrIVeeoxqulxiHm3-0kgCzj2wAJIL4s_EO4_ockgGUMWjfwynUBRig7FnGg3OvYI1BfbRc5o2wHjNFaKfg4/s1600-h/056%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><font size="3"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="056" border="0" alt="056" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj10hW9-Bf26bxLD4_Um8_Pry0UIaWnocVP8MCAYK5BerHGsSQy9E4WfVg6zyyLrqCCvHwWr6O5VeaXXINY94jmlEpyjgnHGClLZV1zazaKifbEKWtRllV67bwGJ3KePy7un16rAruldcg/?imgmax=800" width="507" height="394"></font></a><font size="3">It feels like a new beginning and and old friend. Maybe it’s just nice because I haven’t told anyone yet that I’m writing here! Ha. Yep, this is me writing to absolutely no one. Guess that will change here in a bit.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Today was the first milking of the year. We’ve been getting goat’s milk from a neighbor for the past few weeks, but it’s nice to milk my own again. We ended up drying our gals up early somehow, so it’s been nearly three months instead of the usual two since we’ve milked them. Anyway, it’s such a pleasant routine. And milk means baby goats, which are wonderful, which we happen to have two more of today. I posted about April’s kids on the old blog. Daisy had twin bucklings just after midnight Friday and Rochel had twins this morning. The turkey. I’ve been watching so closely the last few days, thinking she was very close, but she was giving us mixed signals. This morning I guessed she’d be a few hours, but within two she had birthed them both, a buck and a doe, and we all missed it! Oh well, everyone is healthy and adorable.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Rochel and kids, the doe <em>would</em> be the white one, of course. White goats are, well, just kind of boring. The brown one is the only one of the six that looks like its papa. (Apparently my camera corrects for red eye, but not blue eye.)</font></p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1JwSJ5UvNGxUgqBLV8wMpctq4QO_pLurcPwO7LbXWhw27nYunLuGDZvilKwiO6BtqnzakDjtf6R7lloJ12xZf8a-5plghU3Mk7WW89bBARlAl9e7TLXnhGMIlSIUpAkty5kGhfH0bBQ8/s1600-h/065%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><font size="3"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="065" border="0" alt="065" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbxp1DQyj139xfdO0L0aq4ydNVqlFfYcMvrbushs0y0AJ-eUOwW9ZBDfBp0aIR0GJgc9aY4NsrzYcoA6Hcwrk4BLV5gsQM0H1wymM5tmB7mU7rduBKhShdMfhOMUfJkXfhVfxQSdKEby4/?imgmax=800" width="421" height="588"></font></a></p> <p><font size="3">Daisy with Oreo (named by Atira). Alfred P. Doolittle (“Alfie,” named by yours truly) is behind her; he’s solid black, I think with some small dark brown spots; will know for sure when we get them out in the sunshine.</font></p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl8w7pkBT5yziHfY80mKF6BBEc_DyNZkr5w6usXBMGOqckt0s678wkNbn_0YiVmxJN_rKu1CazJyCQbT4ae921GEoD0_ZZLUA-Xer3OysltipN17t5H5GyWH3TLzwenuupFmXGvIT2hZo/s1600-h/032%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><font size="3"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="032" border="0" alt="032" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-tHX77giISdo/UUfck_pwduI/AAAAAAAAAjc/_HaAtBC7eR0/032_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="429" height="344"></font></a></p> <p><font size="3"></font></p> <p><font size="3">April’s kids, one week old now. The black one is the doe, named Reverse by Royal (because she came out backward) and the brown the buck, Merlin (named by Farra). </font></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-BcaRvhbkX2U/UUfcmEmWxFI/AAAAAAAAAjk/YlO-YY9Yk-c/s1600-h/035%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><font size="3"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="035" border="0" alt="035" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-gYbOTrS7QdY/UUfcnpkcmmI/AAAAAAAAAjs/rpY20UpXSSw/035_thumb%25255B5%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="316" height="399"></font></a></p> <p><font size="3">It’s disappointing to have so many bucks. It’s a sad reality that on a farm the males just aren’t as useful or as valuable as the females. I really would have liked to keep a doe kid from Daisy; maybe next year. It’s still wonderful to have so many kids, all healthy, to be in milk again, to have such good, attentive momma goats… Daisy has the most incredible mothering instincts. She talks to her babies all during labor and when she has a contraction she turns and looks around like she is expecting a baby to be there. When they’re born she cleans them up promptly and thoroughly and they are sometimes nursing before they can even stand. Fascinating.</font></p> <p><font size="3"> The goat life is the good life.<br><br>Maybe I’ll tell you about my garden next time. =)</font></p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18401587244734109896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1789716187948829721.post-26944423182717974202013-03-17T22:54:00.001-05:002013-09-28T14:53:12.005-05:00Home Again, Home AgainJiggity jig.<br />
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Man, is it ever nice to be back at Blogger! <sub></sub>The reason this time? Well, there’re some new owners over at homeschoolblogger.com and in order to stay I would have to do some exporting and importing and blah blah blah and now that I have high speed internet—yes! Me!—it occurred to me to check things out here. So far, so good. Even if my offline program, Live Writer, doesn’t work, I can compose online because I’m always online anyway. HughesNet Gen4. This is month two and I love it. Worth the cost. Write it off as a homeschooling tool.<br />
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So, I gotta pop around this place and do some updating. I see my blog roll is sadly outdated (if you have some time, check out my friend Denny’s blog, Our Tomorrow), as is my profile info. It used to say something about "serving my heavenly father." I’m no longer serving a heavenly anything, no longer trying to live up to the unclear expectations of the Bible. You can read about my spiritual journey at my last blog (now moved to , but the long and skinny of it is that last October Bobby and I got into some Bible study that lead us right out of the Bible, out of Christianity, out of Hebrew Roots non-Christian Christianity, out of religion entirely. To suddenly see that the Bible and its god were the works of man was a shock and slightly terrifying at first. We were certainly not looking for it. I toyed around with Deism for a bit after that but now I honestly don’t care if there is a creator god or not. I might philosophize about it occasionally, but I’m tired of wasting energy on things that mankind can’t possibly know and wouldn't matter if we did. Life is too damn short. Too damn full of amazing (<em>real</em>) people and things to learn and explore. It is every bit as rich as it was a year ago and a far sight more enjoyable as a whole.<br />
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That said, as I look back over the last few posts here my heart kind of quivers. Do I regret the time I spent as a Bible-believer? In some ways. But I don’t regret for a moment the friendships I formed. The Fourniers, Singhs, Tuckers, Sweeney’s, etc… so many dear families. Funny, now that I’m outside religion I see it for the box it is but I have no reason to reject those within it. Unfortunately, those within it have reason to reject me. I am Lost. I am Infidel. I am Other. <br />
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I try not to let it bother me, rather just accept it for what it is, glad I had that special time with special people. I have shed my tears and grieved for all of those friendships lost. Now I will have new special times with new special people. I already have amazing new people in my life. And family relationships have lightened up now that we are not so religious. I have spent some wonderful time with my brother, for instance, with all the walls down. I even have some Christian friends who have stood by me, who have seen that I have not changed so much, and love me for who I am, not what I believe about the Bible. It was just before the Feast of Tabernacles last year that we made our Exodus and I very much missed that enchanted time of camping and fellowship in TN. This year we plan to get some family and friends together for an extended camping weekend because it’s such a great fall tradition. I decided we should also work in a spring time family tradition, a float trip in late April or early May. I am very much looking forward to that! If all goes well, there will be a summer vacation to Vermont to visit long-time friends and family, and around that the summer holds promise of many enjoyable nights of universe exploration, astronomy with local friends, some community activities… I can’t tell you how tickled I am that my transition out of religion, which could have been so painful, was instead made smooth by new friends and new activities. Not just the new friends but old ones, too, like I said. Pat and Lisa and Rafe from VT, whose visit and entrance/re-entrance into my life was timed perfectly, and the renewed friendship with my brother… Waking up each day and realizing, if I take the time, that everything that really mattered is still here and is more vivid somehow. To set my feet on the floor, yawn, stretch, and know that my life is my own, to make whatever I want of it. Mostly that is exhilarating and the most peaceful thing I’ve ever known, but I don’t deny I have moments I wish the responsibility wasn't mine! It would be nice to have someone else to blame, some days.<br />
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Now the hour is late and sleep beckons. There is a beautiful spring storm surging and splashing and flashing outside, the perfect lullaby. More later in the week! Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18401587244734109896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1789716187948829721.post-4011157421316362772011-12-06T17:29:00.001-06:002011-12-06T17:29:40.081-06:00Creative Laundry<p>NOW I’ve got your attention, haven’t I? =)</p> <p> All our children, aged 2 and up, share one cardboard box for their socks. They are rarely in pairs. You will often see my middle children wearing mismatched socks. I mean <em>really</em> mismatched, like one white ankle sock with one red knee-high (um, that would be Blue). The box spills over as they dig through it and I figure must wash the same <em>clean</em> socks several times each because when I insist they pick their dirty clothes up off the floor they scoop up everything and toss it in the hamper.</p> <p> Well, after schoolwork today I was trying to find something quiet for the middles and bigs to do while the littles napped. They made a fair go of sorting the colorful socks, but no one wanted to tackle the white ones. So, I sat down with them and helped for awhile, then had what I thought was a delightfully creative idea. We piled all the socks up, each drew six, and we proceeded to play Go Fish with them. What a hoot! When we were left with a small pile of unmatched socks they were very willing to dig through their toy box, under their beds, and in all the far corners of the house looking for matches.</p> <p> Yes, I think we have a winner.</p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18401587244734109896noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1789716187948829721.post-9315629760282756792011-11-15T11:47:00.001-06:002011-11-15T11:47:58.065-06:00Happy 12th Birthday, Farra!<p align="center">And happy Mother’s Day to me! =)</p> <p align="center"> Actually, it was yesterday, the 14th, but because we had such a full day, I didn’t have time to post. Farra declined my offer to take her out to eat, just she and I, and instead we came up with a hike at Pickle Springs, about 45 minutes away. It was a balmy 75° here yesterday, with that southern breeze that makes it seem like spring, very overcast and threatening to rain. It did rain near the end of our 2 mile, 2 hour hike, but only for about 2 minutes. We had a grand time. Unfortunately, Bobby was at work. We managed to get home and get dinner and a German chocolate cake made, and the other kids finished preparing their gifts for Farra, so the evening was fun, too. Farra is an incredible young lady, a very conscientious and helpful daughter, and one of my best friends.</p> <p align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhOq_KmRS_gXJQ4XtD4sU6smc9Zelqo-HZapshvoe7HdcQ0FjW1b1qyA0xk9ahbtG6jNtdEXvWZfuS1jpc3LORtThaMIzQaJqZ9D4oflMTCbrk-JsWdiyd-J93r7Vl73mf1DtyAKYw-7I/s1600-h/DSCF2760%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="DSCF2760" border="0" alt="DSCF2760" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-jFh0qDdlXP8/TsKjCfsZKSI/AAAAAAAAAdA/eVPwftJVz8M/DSCF2760_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="373" height="479"></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtBylPQ1XJkAq6V1YPFm13o5njQ7hlGeDcvAUzoDAX8fVjYF9Z3iz_DqC2fg6bnBrlrK3TncLUGTqzgNm24Et236y5KoVjSgeAUhXdsaFGhevWj77EmbvI01vo7zR3RClfKyv_51mA0pc/s1600-h/DSCF2655%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; 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border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="DSCF2666" border="0" alt="DSCF2666" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCDIhnMNWZEe4hXOqQkMYOm_ayTUbMurvfJ0r5DffmIjXxqaClWkOfvUnsqs6wTljlFP7BaQxbdNG7785PMbb0AHSK1zdkK3S6Dn6Y6OxOm7Vbnxy0jEU-oZzvwA2MmjNq3jnOwuprOO4/?imgmax=800" width="309" height="402"></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_mUbpy2NeZkFKbNO4Onb8DFB33yYHPk7YtBdWxkGWoutzq3Psf3MIX8wKAR3cvmFHRdVjRpG24KMsv5DbdO16XfqQhjaOQjiMHbJsaBrNP2qWkyFgP_hO75WzQRKnQSwKbAzSKhffEjI/s1600-h/DSCF2677%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="DSCF2677" border="0" alt="DSCF2677" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh05S2I4Dt29Kv94c548Iq-1mDugueTM45mnM9eRboIPWuw7JaaUHcwNdyoxjwV-BMJlQ9shG4Lptu_G2InpTitMTkLNkz7IKLqPM6t1od9Knas6muR8BbPy8EIYGYXzZFUb_nA0YqqTrk/?imgmax=800" width="385" height="496"></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTQ2ecOoxATKGdVdamqM-ccBOVl1ctFRFTOgdXjyyreyKc9t6hzDSd1EKL7af_BzaHJnLHopLyqehKDlMfgJzev2mEqUc2P1J5x8QjH-4DuGKFVETHVAfw0gNgfSmrpcmwbYGYyUvIka4/s1600-h/DSCF2688%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="DSCF2688" border="0" alt="DSCF2688" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-ua-OLLcIHtM/TsKkdOqKPsI/AAAAAAAAAeQ/lsHdVVhBSo8/DSCF2688_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="447" height="343"></a> </p> <p align="center"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEkk8bK2OoqwEDQlh93GLAllWDOUnWNb7Mby3uGuDCnGAqLthRgFcQD91-VI_Hc3z1kaG98CRHmxVSPg9dpGAoJBy9W_lVAJxXUIM0rlUacQF4x5nI6KJVnXOPW7enGChfM_2vzJT4vqc/s1600-h/DSCF2680%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="DSCF2680" border="0" alt="DSCF2680" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-zMhaYRlBMTY/TsKkrS33n8I/AAAAAAAAAeg/CfpY3qSOdeg/DSCF2680_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="494" height="384"></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguZGwVtHClw0moZFTEHiVxvgZY2PxsbVbqTpaPccIC6S7ZCvqn6YYpbpk1d7Ukv03AmSwenVHnc3E2nju3BjtuCqBNpyqQMcYuFqGEyCmWOFD0im2Y53_0Dwr6TQbCS16FqRFduseDiB0/s1600-h/DSCF2643%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="DSCF2643" border="0" alt="DSCF2643" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0jJFqbF-ArfUOPtd1SsczZe4UGWzHRkEvaK1-AeC4jwN3TaeY9WGh973KhGm8DFo7dz4Woqu6WAMYQKQsGCxpkqnCF3Tl3zcG_kiWQdxyiKPKypLJZEw8wal6Rw8R6ecU4YrZEVLYM-E/?imgmax=800" width="394" height="513"></a><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-2ohe16-DXdc/TsKlM662-5I/AAAAAAAAAe4/wyIW8HlFa4M/s1600-h/DSCF2710%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="DSCF2710" border="0" alt="DSCF2710" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiClGSQdj28ykfw5GpYG4oHaqMJPtpsf5YT5T5y2qwQ2IGWe5E-bEwniMk1TjZrBLNtPf0l4YtxdaIzZ15cV1oD_KiwD5fGkcL0a-gPSshFIXW-tqvF-Ju2vdX_vY-VlDhO3kdYA2QM0mI/?imgmax=800" width="579" height="444"></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDL-DXF2JmB-sj7CxeCP6V5bUohjgko7f25r7NmZ-qBWAZwLEiKskIccK_G4qhCd1OhMLevracVJ8Ke0XcCSjoU-k00smribokGQRyEqQWEf3yklrBdbT-Z-1jLfh1tfosQrCGJ1shNC0/s1600-h/DSCF2742%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="DSCF2742" border="0" alt="DSCF2742" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4tTyDMcCGyMn_yjIxMvkNuFViRIDbUEQNAEz94Hvj4zhLRuXmQangDBfYD-9pwKHvsjtkWOqkWSZ2GfV0PgAoIgCF4Dt85zFIjqiSk9vo21Q3a5mypjvqQ7bMQXFSlfqfvs6QOZhHpjs/?imgmax=800" width="600" height="465"></a></p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18401587244734109896noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1789716187948829721.post-42152795498761640892011-11-07T10:56:00.001-06:002011-11-07T10:56:46.844-06:00Feast of Tabernacles 2011 – Camp<p>It’s a quiet Sabbath at Make-It-Do Farm. It hasn’t really sunk in that the Feast is over and we probably won’t see our dear friends again until next October. But it’s good to be in a house again, see my critters again, and just rest. I’m coming down with a cold, I think…</p> <p><strong>Camp</strong></p> <p>The Too Awesome Chuck Box my spouse made for me. Needs a little tweaking for next year, but was wonderful. Packed all my cooking/dining items in it (except the grill). You can google “Boy Scout patrol box” and find plans to build one.</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEmfrQ09gNKtLKHI1r-MRQrnDKmfuMXyrC495Y_15iYCaf2WJhrpri4Y5AtRZvJl_xY7Q9WuKtjPiK6ITalVed4HjLIgVNw3Nn1fksrrOJdtXOjYDs_pJM34p0vF0epfHX3J_CjVYjQ-Y/s1600-h/DSCF20903.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="DSCF2090" border="0" alt="DSCF2090" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS1jhMW5JMRUPR6zTO7jqs9e1Bj_IzEqmHf1c1_RA1MF3qZRJhthTLIovvbaK53InnRr7kFBP1lSZuWTy6gztEMSo6cBVnNZ-oqSNwhJz_o6UiEIujZ0cHk-3stmuLt6WDo42EExUkvnk/?imgmax=800" width="410" height="308"></a> </p> <p>Tables and shelves are wonderful. You really don’t want to work out of boxes on the ground for ten days. In the corner there are the hanging shelves we made. Bobby strung the plywood pieces together with rope so they collapse nicely and I added upholstry fabric around the sides and back. I stuck a spare vinyl tablecloth behind it because we were expecting rain. You can see a couple hammocks set up in the back. Farra & Bobby hammocked the whole time, our friend Christian part of the time, Atira and Seth part of the time.</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1HqHDuW56gX9Vn8IiNHjcjcfHHcvZYrEEL0VVNPtp_UmPfa9dVrE4zRi0_iMUDBdZIj7mb9REC9234QhSLOzwvr9ZcjMXa52EIlSyPhJdZWOiPdwL4du9OIpfn0roR4KL4sbNUJY61jI/s1600-h/DSCF21003.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="DSCF2100" border="0" alt="DSCF2100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSyRPREu62Nees0uA1Ze1ONk-DbdFyXJZQkP8LDr4ZYq-C78RFF4XppeIIut1EN89VUcPNx9ERxhJQYz0fnBo3AOY33xPv0mrRwXauIhaKwNG-FgT903fLfKHxh5s0VYKrhhGpAZBkQM0/?imgmax=800" width="410" height="308"></a> </p> <p>Dinner the first night. Burgers.</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLPq086D1-us2IqY-jQJCrhM3V2Y77KJjKPHDvjYHFAlihpiyNjcVRgqSDbMPTB58nYPV-6ZZEhsKMV51sLLffjMTs4k3TaNnTrCucp6xcTrfD6WpP1kIQMQnyo8iBjQzGVR16DD3IELs/s1600-h/DSCF20913.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="DSCF2091" border="0" alt="DSCF2091" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR543JnBVxRFbxl-puj0EhISk6-rl6ExPkjU8LOAi_kishogK_j3hlOmQG5v2hnV0cqV6f7YmHhmEvXUteJvTjbn9ZYvskyQOgfTEJj2yRJvSMVkx9IooReV01DH2Fhcp-bWaJnWlHp9Q/?imgmax=800" width="410" height="308"></a> </p> <p>Bobby & Christian, my AWESOME new 1-minute tent. </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI5u-YvavkO_NjyR1espcp9wqmf4x1cIfWZWDxz5K3badg8DdDsf_syxiEOVAh8eoxtgDFWq-3LcTsPW_TK6PZ1Q9uHm2JoACtHEQRS3r275HWnKbYwTxhHoPsIWDGIf9TI11b3P61I2s/s1600-h/DSCF20983.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="DSCF2098" border="0" alt="DSCF2098" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-4biTquiHoRU/TrgNidy8tlI/AAAAAAAAAa8/TiEfGRX2Zi8/DSCF2098_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="410" height="308"></a></p> <p>Most of our dinners were cooked at home and frozen in 1-gal Ziplock bags. To prepare dinner all I had to do was dump it into the Dutch oven and pop it on the campfire. Here the oven doubles as a sock dryer. Welcome to Hillbilly Camping 101.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCzUi7T05-JS0V5QWEPCuPmmYAcklqPfj-uy6HqTY3lrggj1QmaaCRIi_MgL8eClG19PDFC0dpdja4_5yv1aMezkMqssQSUUR7PmydawuSaIWrP6bdmelORtOwi35-VlH_icXxdFMoqHE/s1600-h/DSCF23583.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="DSCF2358" border="0" alt="DSCF2358" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-4BK3T9m7D7A/TrgNlhOLRCI/AAAAAAAAAbM/n20tADBSRtI/DSCF2358_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="410" height="308"></a> </p> <p>Royal watching Christian take a turn with the hand chain saw, cutting some dead wood scrounged from the forest. The guys faithfully kept the fire going all week.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-dbt1ce6SrSM/TrgNmZ0hlpI/AAAAAAAAAbU/ial-GDG1Gxs/s1600-h/DSCF21023.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="DSCF2102" border="0" alt="DSCF2102" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-BsgBmoZG8bQ/TrgNnW3kidI/AAAAAAAAAbc/EI0ZyJcOZLA/DSCF2102_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="314" height="417"></a> </p> <p>Good morning! Hard to keep a gazillion blankets and sleeping bags tidy… but we did stay warm, even on the 31° night.</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-hYcD-KYdGWQ/TrgNoErgryI/AAAAAAAAAbk/C-L1NIq-IZs/s1600-h/DSCF21543.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="DSCF2154" border="0" alt="DSCF2154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhQVHxvQNd86HbFL32hEF0m5-3rR1wZICjBPAR432PmMsr__Tt78vKMujXl16-2fv9X4VeM-S9Y1LtCwQDI1adrBJgXbRNPmiPXjvl3kDi4qJvOJ2hJ8VnFnjvYwT6xz1orI4wbk8ZQmA/?imgmax=800" width="410" height="308"></a> <a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-MnmbPjtCdr8/TrgNqd5uwTI/AAAAAAAAAb0/EqH6QPpLN0M/s1600-h/DSCF21573.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="DSCF2157" border="0" alt="DSCF2157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQrYZag-PX1oRKDMPiqVJhtQncI-8zcrEvdjaQR8vxxsBeofDibuMtcQ0-r49aylbl-On44-PrSDuyq6mIpflxa4ShkhTPvmZwzUPqdX3GuiVgP9Az8rR-u5OHF-ClkGgd13lqrBBGjAc/?imgmax=800" width="320" height="426"></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_5V5Bv6Z96i5WMeAbvMbvftWXsoJPIAwIqwTWHcN3ooDyITpiy5MXEcq1x832X_THS144xnaAM12SY2KX5s1-arr-e6vpxJ3fTWz6CcRueV0tOH5AY6ApQKuUDsbaZRwZQimdB6cS4KE/s1600-h/DSCF22153.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="DSCF2215" border="0" alt="DSCF2215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMkSJpumz1l9EHiGjTOc76VnmR8UBJVZEv_-4aRNeIfBUcLW6T4gBazCpjTyysy16RJaanon7NnfWGJhv1Kq7KhgUzRvLxws43rWGj3rMLTSAN9pX8ukQo-CMSkXKiS0ALyThaxjrk1Is/?imgmax=800" width="402" height="302"></a> </p> <p>Two hammocks, poorly made by us, gave out on our dear friend, but someone gave Christian this tent. We moved his “storage” tent into it, so he had a closet. </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9J4GxR-xrtSsC9ygQglMtXR2D5F1Cm09KkpaeOMdNcjkwQtV1uden9WalFSQf3xFvgDclzEHgV9UoXaY5mHEguET1S2kNZJO0YcnJV2urxhWUq9h8C75hSeNz0haKtl5xacxNZgqb4gw/s1600-h/DSCF22173.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="DSCF2217" border="0" alt="DSCF2217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr_e15w_5yZFRk4OBslhSEf3flDkiJn7AN5QNwJnQXgvWnxKgsedST_QDgshSm6CF57yNLMimakIZCiJat_RWRD5VrzCk7JFLWjeUcvOWYC-1qtY1ROFnyCZfZjRGLEMhufYMt3u_CBYA/?imgmax=800" width="410" height="308"></a> </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHKV16qC7aaXmtKkZZ1v93qggCwdXr_peveGs4nycXMGeVy34eeUlvZpBlN-XcSMLg1o9JqH1SJudVWb4IwqmK5LJUdXkQZmpceQiJ6jYP_3dKPJOYhotfLokVmarX9_5uMQNj0BDggSw/s1600-h/DSCF23573.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="DSCF2357" border="0" alt="DSCF2357" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKGZxAF2UQDTNOhVGgOhyphenhyphena98V0pOet7-7HmKnuEQlHd3fGOLdeOmAoAXN83q3iw6yTveapaEka6bVdeLIacui-582_8xQNETVZIp29T5jHEbw6nxYxtuSqu56PxSd7pLY-PAlEIKgi0Rg/?imgmax=800" width="410" height="308"></a></p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18401587244734109896noreply@blogger.com3