My Inspirations
|
 |
Wednesday, 13 January 10 - 03:11 PM (GMT -06:00) By Alisha R in Simple Living |
| ||
First, a small update on what's going on around the place. We are still waiting for the baby to make her appearance. We are doing our best to be patient, but aren't really doing the best job. I hope she gets here very soon!
I am currently looking through all the new heirloom seed catalogues and dreaming of planting. I am making my list of things we're going to plant this year and being so excited by the idea of Persephone and I out in the garden together, tending the food that will feed us and spending quiet time together watching things bloom and grow.
I am also working on putting together and tweaking our 2010 homesteading goals. I have written a set every new year since 2007 and list goals, big and little, that we want to achieve through the year in making our life simpler and more independent. Sometimes, something will carry forward from the list from one year to another, but usually, we manage to check off most of the items by the end year. It's a great way to see how far we've come and where we're going.
And now, here are a few of the sites that I'm reading in the cold, cold winter months to inspire me:
Down To Earth--A great Australian blog written by a kind woman with a knack for making you feel like you're sitting in her kitchen with her.
Simple, Nourished Living--Awesome recipes for things to warm your hearth and tummy.
Farmgirl Fare--Honestly, I just love to go here and look at the baby animal pictures. Seriously, they are so cute. I look forward to sharing our first babies!
A Handmade Childhood--A wonderful site about parenting children with love, a focus on simplicity, and nurturing curiosity and creativity in those you love.
A Loss
|
|
|
Sunday, 27 December 09 - 08:32 PM (GMT -06:00) By Alisha R in Livestock |
| ||
I'm sure on every farm, a loss is felt, whether in a strictly economic sense or otherwise. But, on a tiny farm, where each animal has a name and a personality and a story, I think they're felt a little more keenly.
Today, we lost a friend who didn't even have a name yet, but who has been eagerly awaited for. Our first kid, Estrella's little one, was born sometime last night into biting winds and spitting snow. Since it was her first, she was unprepared and unsure of herself, I'm sure. Much as I feel about the arrival of our little one. However, where I hope to have the support and companionship of an entire OB unit to support me through the process, Estrella gave birth too early and alone. We didn't expect the little one so soon, and weren't there to help in the middle of the night.
With this morning's feeding, we found the little goatling, white and tiny, still encased in her sack in the barn. If we'd been there, we might have been able to rupture the sack and save her, but I'm honestly not sure. She was very, very small and very, very early.
Estrella is sad. I know that some might argue that, as an animal, it's silly or wrong to assign human emotions to her. But I can tell, as she seeks comfort from our hands and nuzzles and bleats for her baby, that she is not peaceful or ignorant of what happened. I am sorry for her, and sorry for us, because we have wanted to welcome our first kid for a long time.
I can only hope that next time, instinct and experience will guide her better, and that the baby or babies that come to her will be ready to face the waiting world. We laid the little one to rest, tiny feet folded and ears laid back, and hope for better next time.
Thanksgiving Thoughts
|
|
|
Wednesday, 25 November 09 - 05:18 PM (GMT -06:00) By Alisha R in Simple Living |
| ||
I can't believe Thanksgiving is here already. I know that everyone says that, and I'm sure I say it every year, but I really am awestruck by it. Gobsmacked, even. This year has been such a crazy one, with so many weird ups and downs, that it just flew by like a bizarre dream.
But, that said, I have so much to be thankful for. At a time when many people don't have work, or a home to celebrate in, Preston has a good job with benefits that make our life comfortable and safe and warm. We have a place to be that we love, and work to do that is meaningful to us and fulfilling. We have a baby on the way, after all these years. I think she's waited until just the right time, although I don't know that I could ever have admitted it to myself when I was struggling so hard with our infertility. We also have two sweet foster kids staying with us, who remind me of how blessed we are to have each other and enough to share.
Tonight, I am baking one of our homegrown volunteer pumpkins so that I can make a pumpkin roll with a sweet cream cheese filling to take with us to Preston's family dinner tomorrow. In the morning, I am making a sweet potato crumble to go with it. We're going to miss Preston through the day because he has to work all day, but we'll be rounding up lots of good leftovers for him for when he gets home. I hope he understands how much I appreciate the sacrifices of time and energy he makes for our family.
In the next couple of weeks, as we get ready for Christmas and Yule celebrations, I am going to try to remember to keep things simple and stress-free. I am also going to try and remember that the gifts aren't too important and that everyone will appreciate what we're doing in the spirit it's intended. I am also working on my homestead goals for the next year. I always try to have some together for January 1st. It's sort of my version of resolutions, but instead of a list of impossible changes, I make a list of things that are reachable and doable around the farm for the next year. I don't always get them all checked off, but they just move onto the next list and we move on with our work.
I hope that each and every one of you who read this have a wonderful Thanksgiving and celebrate in a way that is meaningful to you, even if it's not a conventional way. (Beer and tacos, anyone?)
Settling In
|
|
|
Thursday, 19 November 09 - 11:44 AM (GMT -06:00) By Alisha R in General |
| ||
I'm not sure if it's the cold in the air or that stage of my pregnancy, but I find myself more and more just wanting to settle down into the house and hibernate. This time of year is a time of retreat for me, and I began that process when I took maternity leave from Stellaluna. Here is Navi demonstrating how this time of year makes me feel with the assistance of one of my potted plants:
Unfortunately, it seems that I will not be able to settle down for a nice winter's nap this go-round. Two foster children have surprised us with their presence and they have brought a lot of activity into what I was hoping would be the last few sleepy months of my gestation. We were not planning on taking any more placements until after Persephone got here, but it was an emergency, and plans have changed.
So, instead of sleeping away the afternoons and dreaming of things inward, I find myself doing lots of laundry, helping with schoolwork, and teaching the basics of how to be a good citizen of the world (first rule--Good citizens wipe their hineys when they use the restroom).
I keep thinking of Hestia, Hearth Goddess and a wonderful manager of time and resources. I hope that I can live up to her example at a time when I am exhausted constantly by the demands on my time by others and the demands on my body by the work that it's doing.
Tonight, I plan on meditating, taking some time for a hot cup of tea, and asking Hestia for the assistance that I need to get through this hectic time of shuffling, readjusting, and reprioritizing.
In the meantime, here are some pics of the homestead that didn't get posted earlier:
Some Thoughts
|
|
|
Friday, 11 September 09 - 05:17 PM (GMT -06:00) By Alisha R in General |
| ||
I feel like I want to write. For the first time since we've found out we're going to have a baby, I think I can write some about how I'm feeling and what is going on in my head. This isn't exactly farm-related, maybe, but the heart and soul of this place is our tiny family, so I guess we are the farm in that way.
At the beginning of June, I was sick and tired. We were having a very difficult situation with a fostering placement, and it was being made much more difficult by my constant illness and fatigue. I couldn't eat without vomiting and I just wanted to sleep all the time. This probably would have set off alarm bells for any normal person, but I had a fine mental block for myself in this area. After over seven years of hoping and failing, I just could not let myself think that I might be pregnant. After swallowing so many bitter pills in the forms of pregnancy tests with only one line, or no lines, or "not pregnant" (why don't they standardize these things?). So, somehow, I made myself think that I had the flu, or was too stressed, or was developing food allergies. Anything that couldn't disappoint me, or make Preston feel let down by me.
One day, Preston was being the kindest person in the world by offering to let me have a day to myself to sleep and have a miserable break-down, if I needed to. He took the girls swimming, and I went to go get some comfort food from my favorite Chinese place. On the way, something encouraged me to go get a pregnancy test. I told myself I would get a couple, take them, just so I could put any stupid suspicions out of my head. Then I could get an appointment with a gastroenterologist and get on with my life. I got home, set my food to the side, and peed on the cheapest Dollar Store pregnancy tests known to man (I wasn't going to waste money on a good test on what was just a ridiculous whim).
Then, the unthinkable happened. Two lines.
I looked at the package to make sure I read it right. I stared back and forth between the package and the tests. There was no waiting, no "maybe". They were instantly, totally positive. And I fell down onto the floor and wept.
I called Preston and told him. He cried with me. And we've been crying ever since. Mostly, because we're so totally happy. Happy isn't the right word, though. I don't know if there is a word which means, "Blessed beyond measure mixed with disbelief and a bitter-sweet sense of rightness triumphing over time", but that would be the one I need to use.
I've also cried because I'm afraid. I read the statistics, scared myself with reading about other PCOS pregnancies online, and was given a 50/50 chance of miscarrying before 12 weeks. There have been many nights I have sat on the roof of our house and looked at the stars and begged for our baby to be okay, pleading with any errant Goddess listening to wrap us in Her arms and shield the life inside me from the odds and from my own body in the event it should fail to nourish her.
This fear has kept me from writing too much about what is going on, because honestly, I've been afraid I'll jinx it somehow. Something this good is a tender thing, and I didn't want to ruin it with being too loud, too boastful, too sure. But every time I hear her heartbeat, every time I see her on the ultrasound, I become a little more confident, a little less afraid, and it seems a little less fleeting, a little more real.
And now, sometimes, when I'm still and quiet, I can feel her move. And it makes me cry again. I know she's there, and I know she can hear me, so I cry and I tell her that I love her, and that her Daddy is such a good man, and that he will always be there for her to take care of her.
I think of the words of Julian of Norwich, the English Christian mystic who wrote so confidently of her faith and her place in the world, "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well." And I am.
Success! (Mostly)
|
|
|
Saturday, 25 July 09 - 11:03 PM (GMT -06:00) By Alisha R in Livestock |
| ||
I am pleased and proud to announce that my laundry room is no longer home to 27 chickens. The chickens (which are now fully feathered and quite cute) are relocated to their new room in the barn thanks to some help from Preston, who shoveled out all of the coal, and my parents, who helped me convert the room. I spent the entire day today cleaning my horrifyingly dirty laundry room. 27 roosting chickens make a heck of a mess on your washing machine.
There does seem to be a bit of a problem, though. The chickens are somehow getting out of their coop room. I'm not sure where they're escaping from. I had planned on letting them free-range during the day anyway, but I would like for them to be secure at night. Plus, when they start laying, I really don't want to have to hunt all over Kingdom Come for the eggs.
But, one thing at a time, right?
Recipe: Dishwasher Detergent
|
|
|
Sunday, 12 July 09 - 04:40 PM (GMT -06:00) By Alisha R in Simple Living |
| ||
However, I can't quite ever remember to pick up dishwashing detergent for the machine when I go shopping. It's an elusive item for me, for some reason. Maybe because I went so long with never buying it?
Anyway, this quick and easy recipe is a great replacement.
Homemade Dishwasher Detergent:
2 cups borax
2 cups washing soda
That's it! Store it in a plastic container with a snug-fitting lid and use two tablespoons in each load in your detergent compartment. It lasts forever, and actually is good for other cleaning, too. I use this mix, made into a paste with either a little water or liquid castille soap, as a kind of Soft Scrub replacement to get stains out of my countertop and sink.
-----------------------
In a quick farm update, the chickens are going through their ugly teenage phase (we all had one, right?) and are constantly escaping from their home. I'm hoping they will be moved this week into their coop, but we'll have to see if the weather cooperates. It's pretty nasty and stormy today.
New Life on the Farm
|
|
|
Thursday, 02 July 09 - 12:09 PM (GMT -06:00) By Alisha R in Livestock |
| ||
Well, there's been a lot going on around here, but none of it has been comprised of updating the blog, unfortunately!
Some things that have been happening:
- Chickens have arrived, settled in, and are growing like weeds.
- A new goat, Jupiter, has been added to Cornelius's harem.
- We are making hay while the sun shines, hoping to have enough off this first cutting to last through the winter.
- The nasturtiums, tiger lillies, Rose of Sharons, and many other flowers have bloomed beautifully.
- We had a great Litha celebration here.
- We've been overtaken by volunteer pumpkins in the compost pile and the garden. Halloween is going to be very orange around these parts.
WHAT? BABY?!?!?
Yup! Part of the reason the blog has been so woefully neglected is that I've been battling horrible "morning sickness" that lasts all day and night and I've barely been able to get to my regular chores, let alone do anything extra. Preston and I are unbelievably happy, though, especially after believing that after almost 8 years, we wouldn't be having little ones of our own. It's really a little miracle for us, and I'm trying to take the best care of me that I can. And that seems to include not building barns in July.
There has been a lot of other things happening around here, including a very challenging foster placement that has kept us busy, but that chapter seems to be over for now since we've decided not to take another placement until at least after the baby is born because I've been so sick. We've also been fighting a constant battle with escaping goats, destructive puppies, and runaway chickens that got trapped behind my dryer.
However, now that I'm feeling a little better, I'm going to try to be on top of the updating again, so that I can keep a record of how our little farm is growing and changing.
And, just so this long post isn't only boring text, have a cute baby chicken picture:
Storm Damage, Power Returned
|
|
|
Friday, 15 May 09 - 09:52 PM (GMT -06:00) By Alisha R in General |
| ||
Well, I'm going to make this brief, because just thinking about all this mess makes me tired. Our power is back on. Back on, after being off for a week. This is because we had a such a gigantic storm pass through the area (complete with 106 mph winds) that it is being referred to as our "inland hurricane."
We had eight trees fall, damage to the barn, windows blown in, and our power lines torn off from the house. Everyone is fine (despite me being trapped in a national forest...I was getting ready for our women's retreat when the storm hit, was trapped inside the park, and had to be released by rangers with chainsaws and a Bobcat), critters included. The mess is being cleaned up, aided by some eager Chinese folks who informed us in broken English that they would like to have the wood (and also a goat).
What really amazed me is that, honestly, a week without power wasn't a huge deal for us. We lit some oil lamps and candles, plugged the fridge into a generator, and played a good deal of Rummy. I don't think I'll ever want to be electricity-free forever, but I think that in the case of an emergency, we really were pretty prepared. I didn't have to make a single trip to the store in all the post-storm madness and I had some fun cooking on my little aquamarine grill. I read some Terry Pratchett by candlelight and took VERY cold showers and managed to be pretty content.
I will post some pics later, of both some of the mess here and at Lake Murphysboro, but for now I'm going to make some tacos and enjoy the electric lights and air conditioning for a bit.
Aurora, Continued
|
|
|
Thursday, 30 April 09 - 06:55 PM (GMT -06:00) By Alisha R in Livestock |
| ||
My dad came and took a look for me. He couldn't see anything obvious, either, although he told me after looking at her that she may have been quite a bit older than the lady I bought her from led me to believe. He brought me a shovel like I asked.
I really wanted to ask him to dig the grave and bury her for me. I didn't want to have to look at her like that, I didn't want to have to move her or to put her in the hole in the ground. But, I felt like it was my job. I loved her, fed her, cared for her. This was part of that, part of taking care of her. My last job for Aurora.
So, I found a pretty spot under a sweet gum tree and dug a hole in the pouring rain. I have never dug a grave before, and to be honest, I wasn't sure how big or deep it needed to be. I also picked a very pretty place, but not a very practical one since the tree roots were very profuse and hard to get through. But, in the end, I managed to get it done, and carried Aurora from the barn and laid her to rest. This is the part of farming that I know will be hard. And inevitable. I had just gotten her covered back over and was standing in the rain crying when Preston got home.
He brought me inside, hugged me, and then offered to bring me Chinese. That man really loves me.
... More items are available in our News Archive
