Lettuce/beets/radishes/turnips/squash

All sprouted or are in the process of sprouting. It's been hotter than the dickens (according to Jed) with the temps in the 105's area and the plants have been taking a beating. I'll see about watering some more tonight so that they can keep growing. The lettuce looks about ready to pick as well as the onions, tomatillos, and some more cilantro. I'll see if I can make some green enchiladas from the garden... that would be yummy.

Livingroom and Moon

I'll see if I can post some images of the end product of the livingroom when I get home. Although the light isn't really the best in the evenings. Talking about evenings, did anyone else notice the gorgeous moon out there last night? Looked like dawn all night because the moon was so bright. The stars weren't really visible because the moon was blocking them out.

1 year Post

One year ago we moved into our home. Before we moved in we took out all the carpets, washed everything (many times), stained the floors, painted walls, and cleaned some more. We took out one of the cabinets and the dishwasher. Thanks to many friends who stopped by to help us we were able to finish a lot before we even moved in. We continued working on items and then had a house warming party in Sept because frankly, if we waited to have the house warming party until we were finished we would never have it. We continued the work inside with painting and outside with gardening. We constructed coops tore down makeshift pens and continued to see what worked best to contain the animals. We acquired pigs. Lost pigs. Shot a pig. Cursed at a pig. Enjoyed the company of our chickens. Cursed coyotes and predators for the death of our animals and continued to try to maintain a garden. On New Year's Brighid told us of this really nifty tradition in which you get at least 12 different types of fruit and have your house all clean for the new year. The fruit represent the bounty of the next year. The cleanliness means the organization for the next year and then you spend that day doing what you would like your next year to be like. We cleaned the house, had fruit for breakfast, and spent the whole day working on projects such as constructing a better bridge to get to the other side of the back yard. In short, we hoped that this year would be productive and fruitful. We've continued to work on projects at a crazy speed, but other projects get put on hold until we're able to get to them. The wood burning stove went in and the cheapo fireplace went out. The bread oven is started, but I still need to finish putting additional layers. (At the moment, the cats use it as a shady spot to hide in so that they can scare the chickens.) The master bathroom is almost done and we're getting ready to start work on the hallway bathroom. I spent this last weekend working on the painting in the livingroom so that I can mark that off my list. The livingroom has already gone through a redecoration and it's starting to look like what I would like it to look like.

So I guess we can say that the first year in our home has been very busy and productive. We look forward to many more and to the addition of more self-sufficient measures such as solar and wind power. My goal is to get us off the grid completely, but that is a long term project. The front garden is blooming and I just found a local supply(as in around the corner) for horse manure that I can get every day of the year. =) Which means that I'll be working on the back garden soon. As the job market is lagging and my interviews seem to flop, I'll continue working on the house and see what comes of it. To our house and our family: a toast. May we meet again for many years to celebrate the work that we've put in to construct a haven and a home we feel happy and safe in.

Death of a duck

When I picked up the Pekins I could tell that one was a lot small than the other. That was supposed to be because he was standard and she was a jumbo. As they grew I was not so sure, but it was clear that the little male had hip/feet issues. He would sometimes fall on his back and be unable to turn over. As we moved them outside this happened less frequently and we were hoping that the exercise and the sun would help him. Weak legs are usually caused by a low temp in an incubator (causing the last things to develop aka the legs to not fully develop and thus causing weak legs) so I'm assuming that is what must have happened.

When we moved them outside the geese saw both the baby pekins as their children (though at first they tried to shoo them away), adopted ugly(to a goose) children, but their children non the less. They would devote their time to the pekins and bring them food, teach them how to search for food, swim, and clean themselves. In short, the geese were very attached to their pekins.

Today I came home to find that the male pekin was dead, on his back near the pond. My only guess is that he got flipped over and was unable to turn back around and died of dehydration/exposure to high temps. I knew something was wrong because all the geese were surrounding the pekin and had their heads hung low. They didn't make a sound or come over to greet. They just mourned. I approached and they came over slowly and quietly. They led me to the pekin and surrounded him and tried to cover him with their outstretched wings. I'm not usually a sentimental person but to see the geese mourn for their adopted child made me sad. When they were done they stepped back and I walked in and picked him up. I could not bring him in since I did not know how long he had been dead and I wanted to make sure he did not die in vain. I placed him under the dead sycamore so that his body can feed the next tree that we plant there. The geese walked with me as I placed his body in the hole. I put the tree back over him and could only tell the geese I was sorry for their loss.

Jed loves me =) I am Kronos

Sooo, Jed always has a really hard time picking out presents for me because he says I'm difficult to shop for. For example he thought I was just joking when I first asked for a composter. This year, I hinted that I would really, really like a grass scythe and he surprised me and got me a kick ass scythe set. It came with everything and it was actually built to my height and specifications. The one thing he didn't know about is that the scythe blade is gold colored. The first time I opened it my first thought was: Kronos? Do I get to control time now? Although this is not the case, the idea is pretty cool. =)

I'll have to post how it works after I have enough grasses and items to cut down... once things start growing again since the goats/sheep have done a pretty good job of clearing everything else.

Mead update

While Guy and Sharon were over we were able to bottle up the Sage honey mead and the Ginger/Sage honey mead. I know that Guy and Sharon didn't really like the slightly lingering aftertastes... but man am I in love!!! It tastes just like a cool, bubbly, coconut juice. It tastes fabulous and helps whenever we're slaughtering any of the animals.

And a short story:
Guy and I bottled the sage mead and in order to do that we ended up clearing up (aka: drinking) the contents of some of the half containers. One was nice and bubbly and fun and the other one was a definite date rape (Thanks J for giving it that name) drink. We ended up leaving the date rape drink because it was a little too intense and we could only sip w/o getting almost instantly drunk. It is very, very sweet, but also very, very alcoholic.

We still have one carboy full of really sweet mead (date rape) that I think I'm going to cut with apple juice to cut some of the sweetness and the alcohol level. =) We'll see how soon we can bottle it.

Borage - anyone want some?

I planted some organic borage in the front and luckily all of them sprouted, but on the down side, they all sprouted. I have an excess of borage. Would anyone like a seedling or two? You can eat the young leaves (not the full grown as they are a little spiky and sticky), the flowers attract beneficials, and helps with skin rashes and inflamation.

PS. Image from http://adamofeden.ca/Glossary.aspx