All the World's Frustrations
We had a written assignment for Psychology due today (Sunday). The first question was along the lines of violence in the media and how it correlates with childhood aggression. While writing I was getting more and more angry, so I guess I found where a passionate subject of mine lies. I thought I'd post it.
Violence in media, meaning the often bloody, gory, painful, or otherwise harmful injuries and assaults endured by characters of television programs and video games, can be a touchy subject to many people. Some believe that the sole cause of the rise in aggression of the youth population is the fact that they are desensitized to violence because they have seen it on television, or are causing it in video games. There are also those who believe that the two don't correlate at all. When a person is desensitized to something, it no longer appears threatening or frightening; it matters very little.
Aggression can be defined as "hostile or violent behavior or attitudes toward another; readiness to attack or confront", or as "the action of attacking without provocation" (dictionary.com). A child constantly bombarded with the fictional deaths on television and video games, is more apt to be aggressive, especially if he/she isn't able to express anger effectively with age-appropriate peers. Children, I believe, need to play and run and have arguments with each other relatively free of close parental supervision. Children allowed so to work out disagreements from a young age, begin to understand how to interact with others. Problem-solving becomes familiar. With the advent of both parents working, daycare, and the general disinterest or distrust of neighbors that has become commonplace in America, children have almost nothing to do but sit around playing games and watching television.
Is it then so strange that our children become frustrated with what the world has to offer them? Hardly more than temporary entertainment and fleeting fun. Lasting, lifelong friendships become rare treasures. Is it any wonder that people have mental disorders? Our lives are so far removed now from physical labor, is it any wonder we have trouble sleeping? Frustrations build and the people don't know why. Frustrations can build to the point that violence is seen as inevitable, but we are taught to not get involved, to back off, and so we let troubling signs slip by us until someone explodes. Then we look back and say, "What a tragedy."
Yes, there is a definite link between what a child watches and ultimately what he does, but more of the responsibility lies with parents and guardians. Children need to do what children have always needed to do: laugh and scream and play, and most importantly, learn.
Shepherding the Sheepdog
I posted here about Max, the new addition to the dog group here at the house.
He's coming along pretty well. He's much more comfortable with us and the noises in the house. He still gets nervous about loud voices and when he doesn't exactly understand what is expected of him. New people are scary, but he doesn't avoid and ignore them for long. He won't exactly approach, but tolerates petting and gentle treatment extremely well. He doesn't drool constantly anymore.
On the other hand, he is nothing like I was expecting or hoping for in a dog. He is not overly cuddly, though he'll stand for petting and obviously enjoys it. He listens well on the leash, but hates going anywhere besides an established path and/or route. He is very good at getting out of his collars, even his martingale. I believe he'd be highly trainable, if I knew how to break him of, or help him through his fear. He likes to jump despite dodgy hips.
He's an old, sweet man who likes nothing more than napping in the sun and sniffing the wind. I'm just not sure he's the dog for me. I am debating asking the shelter to put him as a courtesy posting on their Petfinder page. I am unsure and conflicted about him.
Despite the apparent ambiguity of his situation, he will have a home here with me for the rest of his life. I do not take the responsibility of pets (this would extend to livestock too) lightly. They are not things to be tossed aside, but animals that I am charged to provide for. I made the commitment, I will keep it until it is passed on, or until it comes to and end with his passing.
He's coming along pretty well. He's much more comfortable with us and the noises in the house. He still gets nervous about loud voices and when he doesn't exactly understand what is expected of him. New people are scary, but he doesn't avoid and ignore them for long. He won't exactly approach, but tolerates petting and gentle treatment extremely well. He doesn't drool constantly anymore.
On the other hand, he is nothing like I was expecting or hoping for in a dog. He is not overly cuddly, though he'll stand for petting and obviously enjoys it. He listens well on the leash, but hates going anywhere besides an established path and/or route. He is very good at getting out of his collars, even his martingale. I believe he'd be highly trainable, if I knew how to break him of, or help him through his fear. He likes to jump despite dodgy hips.
He's an old, sweet man who likes nothing more than napping in the sun and sniffing the wind. I'm just not sure he's the dog for me. I am debating asking the shelter to put him as a courtesy posting on their Petfinder page. I am unsure and conflicted about him.
Despite the apparent ambiguity of his situation, he will have a home here with me for the rest of his life. I do not take the responsibility of pets (this would extend to livestock too) lightly. They are not things to be tossed aside, but animals that I am charged to provide for. I made the commitment, I will keep it until it is passed on, or until it comes to and end with his passing.
Futhering Goals
What have I done to further my goals?
The Solar Dehydrator book was ordered and arrived Friday afternoon. I've glanced at it a bit and will have delve more deeply into it! Also, I was finally able to measure my future garden space (remember, this is the first year I will be putting in a garden... ever). Currently it measures 30' by 4'9". I don't know how I want it set up just yet, but I definitely want to make it wider, say 6 feet to start. My Gramma (and the property’s owner) isn’t too thrilled with the whole garden idea. She thinks it’s not worth the effort put forth. I’m still willing to try.
In other news, my camera is pretty much kaput. It had developed a black spot on or in the lense which becomes more and more prevalent the more zoom is applied. I have cleaned and cleaned and cleaned the lenses, made sure it actually shows on the pictures instead of just a flaw on the viewer, and tried everything I could think of. I've been looking at a few new ones online, but am loathe to buy another $100.00 camera. It is too easily called refuse and thrown away. I almost want to spend a lot more money on a camera of good quality just to be motivated to care better for it.
Besides that, I miss taking pictures.
The Solar Dehydrator book was ordered and arrived Friday afternoon. I've glanced at it a bit and will have delve more deeply into it! Also, I was finally able to measure my future garden space (remember, this is the first year I will be putting in a garden... ever). Currently it measures 30' by 4'9". I don't know how I want it set up just yet, but I definitely want to make it wider, say 6 feet to start. My Gramma (and the property’s owner) isn’t too thrilled with the whole garden idea. She thinks it’s not worth the effort put forth. I’m still willing to try.
In other news, my camera is pretty much kaput. It had developed a black spot on or in the lense which becomes more and more prevalent the more zoom is applied. I have cleaned and cleaned and cleaned the lenses, made sure it actually shows on the pictures instead of just a flaw on the viewer, and tried everything I could think of. I've been looking at a few new ones online, but am loathe to buy another $100.00 camera. It is too easily called refuse and thrown away. I almost want to spend a lot more money on a camera of good quality just to be motivated to care better for it.
Besides that, I miss taking pictures.
Flaky Pie Crust
I hate shortening. Can't stand the stuff, but I also can't seem to get a good pie crust just using butter. (I haven't been sucessful with rendering lard yet...) Apparently, it's all in the technique!
This is the best crust I have ever eaten!
It was just as good as it smelled and looked!
This is the best crust I have ever eaten!
Pie Crust
makes two crusts
Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups ALL PURPOSE FLOUR
1 tbsp SUGAR
1 tsp SALT
3/4 cup COLD BUTTER
2/3 cup plus 1 tbsp COLD WATER
Cut COLD BUTTER into cubes. Set aside. Combine FLOUR, SUGAR, and SALT in a large mixing bowl. Using a pastry cutter, cut in BUTTER until no pieces larger than a pea remain. Add in about half the COLD WATER and mix, adding more COLD WATER as needed until dough comes together.
Divide the dough in half and wrap in plastic (I used cereal bags) and set in the fridge.
It is very important that the dough now rests in the fridge for at least 45 minutes and up to 60 minutes.
After resting, roll dough out.
It's better to under cook this crust, and I found it better for lower heats in the 350 degree range. The apple pie was in the oven for an hour, the pumpkin pies were in for 45 minutes but started at 425 degrees. At this high temperature they became hard. Play with it, see what's best for you.
NOTE: Never let the dough sit at room temperature longer than necessary. Always put it back in the fridge until ready to use.
It was just as good as it smelled and looked!
Goals for 2013
It's not January 1st yet, but I feel like New Year's Resolutions never really stick anyway, so I thought I'd list a few things I hope to accomplish/do/build in the next year. The goal being to promote my personal skills in providing for me and mine. In slighty particular order:
1. Build a Solar DehydratorI am going to post updates to this list as I complete them (as long as I remember to). I already finished one of my big goals: the composter! I made a compost bucket out of a plastic tote bin with a lid. We finally can begin to reuse the produce refuse, and keep it out of the landfills! Hooray for small victories.
I'm planning on buying this particular book, recommended by Jane at Hard Work Homestead. Her husband and her built their dehydrator and it seems to work wonderfully! Building it will be much easier when I figure out what materials I need to find and purchase.
2. Fence in and Prepare the Designated Garden Space
I've got all the tools to prepare the soil. We have a great assortment of old hoes, rakes, shovels, a wheelbarrow and the like. It will be hard work; our soil is 98% rocks. Not really, but it sure does feel like it whenever you try to dig! Fencing in another beast all together. Deer, chipmunks, squirrels, raccoons, and especially rabbits are very prevalent in our area. Our property backs to the woods, so fencing is important.
3. Plant a Varied Garden, and Harvest From it
I've got a jump on this one with a spread sheet of the seeds and varieties I'd like to purchase. As I add I also make note of prices, days to maturity, and what company offers the seed. Next I need to measure the garden space and create a planting guide based on my zone and individual needs of the plants.
4. Attempt to Save Seed for Next Year
Self explanatory, really.
5. Find a Place to Store Canned Goods Long-Term
There are a few places like the garage and the shed that I have my eyes on, but I need to take temperatures in these areas and keep a log so I can get an average temperature. An average temperature will tell me if I've found a suitable place or not. There is also the far left of the pantry cabinet but it slants funny because it's underneath the stairs. It's hard to get to, but with a little cleaning and rearranging it might be perfect.
6. Obtain Pressure Canner; Can Garden Bounty
I've never pressure-canned, and I don't have one! Go figure. I have my eyes on one from Lehman's I'm particularly interested in. I want to be more self-sufficient, and providing some percentage of our food is a step in the right direction.
7. Render Lard, Sucessfully
I tried it earlier this month. In fact, it was right before Thanksgiving because I wanted to try lard in my pie crust. However I made the small but DRASTIC mistake of not cutting all meat particles from the fat. It ruined the whole thing and stunk up the entire house! I still haven't had the courage to clean out the canning jar I stored it in!
8. Process a Chicken
I want to learn to kill, de-feather, gut, and otherwise prepare for the table, my own chicken. I'm still working on the property owner (Gramma!) to let me have chickens, but it's not going anywhere. I may have to do it somewhere else or bring home one chicken and process, one chicken and process, etc. I am actively looking for somewhere to attend a workshop. They had one last year through the Extension Office, but I don't see one this coming year yet.
9. Homestead Journal
I would truly like to be more vigilant with my journaling. Noting what kind of day (weather-wise) it was and what was accomplished on that day. I think my future children and relatives might be happy to read it, and it'll be nice to look back for myself.
What Do the People Know?
I don't recall if I've mentioned it before, but I happen to work in a large-chain supermarket. We sell mostly groceries and have a selection of other such general merchandise items.
Since the very recent opening of my eyes, I have become disgusted by the majority of the items we are allowed to sell (allowed because nine companies essentially own everything in your grocery store and mine). I see people purchasing soda, and poptarts, frozen dinners, and fresh steaks, asparagus and strawberries and I can't help but wonder if they would continue to spend their money on these things if they knew what was in there?
Asparatame in your soda that will eat holes in your brain, high-fructose corn syrup that creates sugar intolerances in your body, frozen dinners full of fake flavorings and MSG, fresh steaks that were fed corn and grain and antibiotics for all of its miserable life, asparagus from Peru, strawberries fresh so far out of season that they can't possibly be healthy and pesticide-free.
If they knew, would they change?
I am trying. I really am. We do have a few fresh organic vegetables, grown in America (because organic produce grown in other countries is not subject to the United States' organic laws), and locally grown and slaughtered, grass fed beef in the freezer. This is pretty much what I've been eating: apples, beef, and cauliflower. Some local eggs too, for good measure.
Since the switch to better food I am discovering my cravings for processed junk is insane. I am irritable and feel uncomfortably empty often. When I fill that craving with something processed, I feel better. Getting my HFCS (high-fructose corn syrup) seems to "fix" my cravings.
Scary, isn't it? I find it frightening.
Luckily a downtown store sells locally grown organic produce and I feel I must stop in tomorrow just to see what I can find.
Keep up the good fight, start your own, or tell someone about what they are really putting in their body, you might just plant the seed that gets another person on their way out of the corporate-controlled food system.
Since the very recent opening of my eyes, I have become disgusted by the majority of the items we are allowed to sell (allowed because nine companies essentially own everything in your grocery store and mine). I see people purchasing soda, and poptarts, frozen dinners, and fresh steaks, asparagus and strawberries and I can't help but wonder if they would continue to spend their money on these things if they knew what was in there?
Asparatame in your soda that will eat holes in your brain, high-fructose corn syrup that creates sugar intolerances in your body, frozen dinners full of fake flavorings and MSG, fresh steaks that were fed corn and grain and antibiotics for all of its miserable life, asparagus from Peru, strawberries fresh so far out of season that they can't possibly be healthy and pesticide-free.
If they knew, would they change?
I am trying. I really am. We do have a few fresh organic vegetables, grown in America (because organic produce grown in other countries is not subject to the United States' organic laws), and locally grown and slaughtered, grass fed beef in the freezer. This is pretty much what I've been eating: apples, beef, and cauliflower. Some local eggs too, for good measure.
Since the switch to better food I am discovering my cravings for processed junk is insane. I am irritable and feel uncomfortably empty often. When I fill that craving with something processed, I feel better. Getting my HFCS (high-fructose corn syrup) seems to "fix" my cravings.
Scary, isn't it? I find it frightening.
Luckily a downtown store sells locally grown organic produce and I feel I must stop in tomorrow just to see what I can find.
Keep up the good fight, start your own, or tell someone about what they are really putting in their body, you might just plant the seed that gets another person on their way out of the corporate-controlled food system.
The Food at the Supermarket
This is the writing assignment I sent off this morning for class today. It is an informal way to explore the topic we are writing for our nine to tweleve page writing assignments. I've done well on the last two, but there is so much to cover with this topic that I had a hard time not jumping around too much! I am excited for our research papers.
The American public has been, ever so carefully, led to believe that thousands of choices are available to them at the grocery. There are more than forty-seven thousand items in any given supermarket, but very few companies (nine in total) provide the goods on those shelves. Those companies are: Coca-Cola, Pepsico, General Mills, Kellog's, Mars, Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, Proctor & Gamble, Nestle, and Kraft. Through careful crafting of lies, false research, and general misleading the public has been fooled into believing that these food stuffs are healthy.
Almost every package includes a misleading label. Those foods labeled "Natural" or "All Natural" can still contain injected sodium or high fructose corn syrup, "Multigrain" does not mean whole grain, "free-range" animals are often encouraged to stay indoors, "light" sometimes just refers to flavor, "organic" is a popular word, and the USDA does have strict guidelines as to what can and cannot be labeled "organic". However, these restrictions only apply to the United States of America. Any products from out of country are certified by a different company, which in turn tells the USDA that yes, the food is indeed organic. Once the food receives the third-party's acceptance the USDA allows its label to be used.
On March 16th, 2009 law was passed into effect which mandated that food products be labeled with country of origin, to better enable consumers to choose from which country they wanted their food grown and manufactured. Of course, when made outside of the United States, the print type chosen is very small and located in generally difficult-to-read areas like the crimp of the bag. When a product is made in America, the labels and exclamations couldn't be louder or more obvious. Even companies that design a product in America, but have it manufactured out of country, proudly display the American flag.
Another disturbing trend is the incidence of disease among Americans due to their food. Salmonella, E-Coli, norovirus, ands stomach upsets are fairly common. There is one, however generally not connected with food, but is the most serious and life threatening one: cancer.
Everyone wants to discover the cure for cancer; it's nearly impossible to find one person unaffected by, or related to someone who has/had cancer. Scientists and millions upon millions of dollars per year are poured into research, but no one knows why cancer infects us so viciously. There are some identified culprits but the incidence of cancer is still rising. When people are diagnosed with cancer, now they are a martyr, fighting against an unseen enemy with an army of the afflicted. Does no one think that the increase in chemical in the food we consume could possibly have anything to do with cancer? Potassium bromate, BHT and BHA, artificial colors, acesulfame-potassium, carrageenan, nitrates and nitrites, olestra, propyl gallates, and saccharin are all known carcinogens, but the FDA allows them in small quantities in (especially prepared, packaged) food.
Now genetically-modified foods are becoming public knowledge. The largest chemical company in the world owned over ninety percent of the soybeans grown in the United States in 2008. They were genetically enabled to not be affected by Roundup, a chemical that kills weeds, also manufactured by Monsanto. Do we really want a plant that can withstand toxic chemicals? Are they safe? Monsanto assures us that their seeds are perfectly safe, even though research has shown an increase in cancer in laboratory animals fed exclusively genetically modified materials.
Yes, of course our food is safe. Just ask the government. They have such an impeccable track record of having the public's best interests at heart.
The House and The Water
I have lived in the same house less than half of my life. We moved in when I was seven years old, and I moved out when I was eighteen. I moved back in at twenty-five, so that's a total of eleven years in and fourteen out. However, this house was the same one that sheltered my mother and her brothers nearly their whole lives. My gramma bought this house, with its 1.6 acres, for $5,000.
The house she purchased was originally part of the house next door. In fact, our house was the servants' quarters. The house next door, our house and the house 2 lots down the road were all part of the same farmhouse.
I have always loved this place. I always will. My youngest sister and I used to dream of someday owning it and raising our children here. I believe it has one of the most beautiful properties around. I know every inch of it, but there's still something to discover everyday. It sits up from the road, well out of the valley-bottom, so the seasonal floods do not affect us, and never will.
However, as my calling in life has changed to more of an agrarian-based homestead I have come to the heart-wrenching conclusion that this property will not do.
Since it was a farm, I asked gramma (the property owner) about buying the acreage behind us (all of which is new-growth woodlands, and used to be cow pasture). She said that she had asked the property owner (who lives next door to us to the left) to purchase it. He declined and informed her that upon his death the land was going to a state organization that "preserves" natural areas. Upon speaking to my mother about this, she confirmed and added that she believed it was already in the possession of this organization.
(This was taken in early Autumn and looks out from the back of the driveway toward the road.)
How frustrating that prime farming land has been given to the state. I don't know which organization owns it, but most of the state-owned land in this county belongs to the watershed of New York City. My county hosts several of the reservoirs, but the Pepacton holds the largest amount of water of any of NYC's other reservoirs, and provides 25% or more of NYC's daily water usage.
As much as I love it here, the more I think about it, the less desirable my county seems as far as aligning with my future.
The house she purchased was originally part of the house next door. In fact, our house was the servants' quarters. The house next door, our house and the house 2 lots down the road were all part of the same farmhouse.
I have always loved this place. I always will. My youngest sister and I used to dream of someday owning it and raising our children here. I believe it has one of the most beautiful properties around. I know every inch of it, but there's still something to discover everyday. It sits up from the road, well out of the valley-bottom, so the seasonal floods do not affect us, and never will.
However, as my calling in life has changed to more of an agrarian-based homestead I have come to the heart-wrenching conclusion that this property will not do.
Since it was a farm, I asked gramma (the property owner) about buying the acreage behind us (all of which is new-growth woodlands, and used to be cow pasture). She said that she had asked the property owner (who lives next door to us to the left) to purchase it. He declined and informed her that upon his death the land was going to a state organization that "preserves" natural areas. Upon speaking to my mother about this, she confirmed and added that she believed it was already in the possession of this organization.
(This was taken in early Autumn and looks out from the back of the driveway toward the road.)
How frustrating that prime farming land has been given to the state. I don't know which organization owns it, but most of the state-owned land in this county belongs to the watershed of New York City. My county hosts several of the reservoirs, but the Pepacton holds the largest amount of water of any of NYC's other reservoirs, and provides 25% or more of NYC's daily water usage.
As much as I love it here, the more I think about it, the less desirable my county seems as far as aligning with my future.
This Day
Today is one of those achingly beautiful days that your heart and head can't get enough of. It smells like spring, like new beginnings.
I am so grateful to be alive on a day like today.
After church, the Harvest Dinner was put on. Rachel and I signed up to serve and so during the last song in church we ran out and got ready to serve. Aprons on and gloved-up we dished out potatoes, vegetables, stuffing, and turkey along with sweet potatoes, gravy, rolls and tons of pie!
I am so grateful to be alive on a day like today.
After church, the Harvest Dinner was put on. Rachel and I signed up to serve and so during the last song in church we ran out and got ready to serve. Aprons on and gloved-up we dished out potatoes, vegetables, stuffing, and turkey along with sweet potatoes, gravy, rolls and tons of pie!
A Little Fun
Edited to add:
Bailey made it! Here's a link to his post.
Mom has introduced me to this fun website: Dog Shaming, where you write embarrassing things your dog does and submit them. Most are great and some are down-right hilarious!
Here's the photo we captured of her miniature dachshund, Bailey.
I'm sorry it's fuzzy, the little booger wouldn't sit still at all!
We just submitted the photo to the website and are hoping Bailey makes it on. :)
Mom has introduced me to this fun website: Dog Shaming, where you write embarrassing things your dog does and submit them. Most are great and some are down-right hilarious!
Here's the photo we captured of her miniature dachshund, Bailey.
I'm sorry it's fuzzy, the little booger wouldn't sit still at all!
We just submitted the photo to the website and are hoping Bailey makes it on. :)
Fall Comes With Thankfulness
The days are cooler and day light leaves us a full hour earlier. Leaves are turning brilliant colors before wafting to earth. Cycles of life and death continue to cleanse the natural world and change us from a growing season to a sleeping one. Traditionally fall is a time of great preparation for the coming winter. Canning and putting up the last vestiges from the garden, apple pressing and processing, preparing the ground for spring planting.
The work is never done, it just changes.
I wouldn't change where I live for the world. Oh, I'd move to a new property, but never out of this area, and I am very resistant to leaving even my county. I am especially fond of autumn here. The hillsides turn into a patchwork of brilliant colors, incorporating the blues and greens of our pines with the red, orange, and yellow of various other types of trees. The sugar maples take the show though, with their vividness.
Something is in the air here, something intangible and beautiful. A type of peace and a desperate understanding. I use 'desperate' as my descriptor because almost all of us who live here understand the phenomenal place we have. The quietness, the beauty, the undeniable enchantment that permeates the breeze.
Those of us who can't see it, leave. Some of us (including me) leave and then high-tail it back home, where we've always belonged – even if we didn't know it then. Some of us do not return, because this is not where God needs us, not where we are called to serve. Others grew up somewhere else, found us here, and knew they belonged.
I belong, and I finally know it.
The work is never done, it just changes.
I wouldn't change where I live for the world. Oh, I'd move to a new property, but never out of this area, and I am very resistant to leaving even my county. I am especially fond of autumn here. The hillsides turn into a patchwork of brilliant colors, incorporating the blues and greens of our pines with the red, orange, and yellow of various other types of trees. The sugar maples take the show though, with their vividness.
Something is in the air here, something intangible and beautiful. A type of peace and a desperate understanding. I use 'desperate' as my descriptor because almost all of us who live here understand the phenomenal place we have. The quietness, the beauty, the undeniable enchantment that permeates the breeze.
Those of us who can't see it, leave. Some of us (including me) leave and then high-tail it back home, where we've always belonged – even if we didn't know it then. Some of us do not return, because this is not where God needs us, not where we are called to serve. Others grew up somewhere else, found us here, and knew they belonged.
I belong, and I finally know it.
Shepherdess
Classes are going well, though I am not enjoying my psychology class. We do almost everything on the computer, and while that's not exactly a hardship for me, it is annoying. We have two different (online) places to look for possible assignments becase she does not go over what will be due next class.
Our yard sale did in fact go well, we made $138 a piece. We cleaned it up Saturday afternoon before I had to leave for work. Just before we closed down though, a lady stopped and she and I got to talking about dogs (of course!) and it turned out she breeds Shetland Sheepdogs (a.k.a. Shelties) just up the road.
We talked and talked and talked, so much in fact that Gramma kind of walked away and started cleaning in spite of the customer.
She had a male seven year old black, tan and white, who needed a new home. So of course I took her phone number. Them I stewed about it. I talked to mom about the possibility of another dog. She seemed indifferent.
The following Monday I called her and asked to come see him. We talked and talked again. He was shy and would only sniff me with my back turned. I made a spur of the moment decision.
Because I didn't think I had enough going on already, I have become a sheltie shepherdess.
He's afraid of everything.
He hasn't lived in a house for years. He is scared by the washing machine, the dishwasher, the cabinets & drawers being opened and shut, people walking by him, and general moving of anything.
When he is frightened, he paces. And drools.
However, someone has worked hard with him because he is perfect on leash, absolutely silent in the house (except when the treats come out), and sweet.
He is reserved, but does come for petting, treats, and walks. He doesn't cuddle or play. He's not sure he trusts me yet.
That's okay though, I know a little about shy dogs.
Our yard sale did in fact go well, we made $138 a piece. We cleaned it up Saturday afternoon before I had to leave for work. Just before we closed down though, a lady stopped and she and I got to talking about dogs (of course!) and it turned out she breeds Shetland Sheepdogs (a.k.a. Shelties) just up the road.
We talked and talked and talked, so much in fact that Gramma kind of walked away and started cleaning in spite of the customer.
She had a male seven year old black, tan and white, who needed a new home. So of course I took her phone number. Them I stewed about it. I talked to mom about the possibility of another dog. She seemed indifferent.
The following Monday I called her and asked to come see him. We talked and talked again. He was shy and would only sniff me with my back turned. I made a spur of the moment decision.
Because I didn't think I had enough going on already, I have become a sheltie shepherdess.
He's afraid of everything.
He hasn't lived in a house for years. He is scared by the washing machine, the dishwasher, the cabinets & drawers being opened and shut, people walking by him, and general moving of anything.
When he is frightened, he paces. And drools.
However, someone has worked hard with him because he is perfect on leash, absolutely silent in the house (except when the treats come out), and sweet.
He is reserved, but does come for petting, treats, and walks. He doesn't cuddle or play. He's not sure he trusts me yet.
That's okay though, I know a little about shy dogs.
Classes
I was at work and overheard a few customers talking and once mentioned that they still had nine chickens to be processed and they'd have to contact the farm. I asked her which farm and she told me, and I asked why they didn't do it themselves and she said because she honestly didn't know how to process them and cut them up once they were dead. She did mention that she thought the farm held classes on how-to. I thought that it'd be something to check out.
The cooperative extension table at the fair was full of information and I picked up a few papers. There is a poultry class, and a calf raising class, something about dirt that I didn't look at too much, and a few others that sounded just as promising. I think I'll have to go down to the cooperative extension building and see what else they offer.
Gramma and I are having a yard sale this Friday and Saturday when the college kids are due to move in. Hopefully we'll have a few good sales. Gramma has a few furniture pieces, where my things are mostly books. While looking for things to sell, we found some memories. My favorite was the bible my gramma ordered from the Sears catalog when she was 16.
College classes start on the 3rd of September!
The cooperative extension table at the fair was full of information and I picked up a few papers. There is a poultry class, and a calf raising class, something about dirt that I didn't look at too much, and a few others that sounded just as promising. I think I'll have to go down to the cooperative extension building and see what else they offer.
Gramma and I are having a yard sale this Friday and Saturday when the college kids are due to move in. Hopefully we'll have a few good sales. Gramma has a few furniture pieces, where my things are mostly books. While looking for things to sell, we found some memories. My favorite was the bible my gramma ordered from the Sears catalog when she was 16.
College classes start on the 3rd of September!
A Small Update
The weather has been wonderfully cool here as of late with a crisp sweetness that belies autumn and instead makes me think of spring. I awake in the morning to fog drifting over and through the valley only to be burned off in the forenoon sun. The birds call and cows low and traffic whizzes by on the main road.
Since realizing I own too much, I have marked for giving away nearly half my belongings, mostly books, and have set aside some for others of my family to lay their claim. The clothing and my eye glasses that I do not need or do not use went with my grandmother to the church, which receives a certain price for pounds donated. I still have the other half of my belongings to sort through, as I have kept very little. I am being quite ruthless.
I was able to find and sort through some seeds for next year. I also found my plastic greenhouses and a few boxes of dirt pod refills. I took a look at my garden space and am eager to begin work as soon as I can drag my mother out to ask what I can and cannot dig up. I at least want to break up the soil and possibly turn in some manure before the first frosts.
I didn't add anything to my Homestead Binder this past week because of the move and because the binder hasn't come off the back deck just yet. It is sitting among the things I still have to sort.
I am settling in at work and it has been nice to see everyone in town. The only downside is that, though you wouldn't think it, cashiering is hard, long, tough work and leaves me tired. I am having some trouble trying to fit everything in the day with enough time to sleep and rest. I am sure I will adjust.
Since realizing I own too much, I have marked for giving away nearly half my belongings, mostly books, and have set aside some for others of my family to lay their claim. The clothing and my eye glasses that I do not need or do not use went with my grandmother to the church, which receives a certain price for pounds donated. I still have the other half of my belongings to sort through, as I have kept very little. I am being quite ruthless.
I was able to find and sort through some seeds for next year. I also found my plastic greenhouses and a few boxes of dirt pod refills. I took a look at my garden space and am eager to begin work as soon as I can drag my mother out to ask what I can and cannot dig up. I at least want to break up the soil and possibly turn in some manure before the first frosts.
I didn't add anything to my Homestead Binder this past week because of the move and because the binder hasn't come off the back deck just yet. It is sitting among the things I still have to sort.
I am settling in at work and it has been nice to see everyone in town. The only downside is that, though you wouldn't think it, cashiering is hard, long, tough work and leaves me tired. I am having some trouble trying to fit everything in the day with enough time to sleep and rest. I am sure I will adjust.
Overtaken by Stuff
I did manage to get to the county fair on Tuesday, but my sync cord is missing once again, and so no pictures today.
I had a lot more stuff than I thought. Moving always points that out to you doesn't it? So I am going to go through and sell or donate whatever I can't otherwise use. That includes the printer I paid $100 or so for and my small television, vcr, and dvd player. I need to pare down my belongings so I can stop feeling so overwhelmed and so I can focus less on things and more on my family and God - the important things in life.
I will be getting started on my hand-milled soaps soon and aquired some dried lavender for a gentle abrasive to use. I am currently locating a source for essential oils, and after that a mold. Then I'll be ready. I'll be sure to post about it when it becomes available in the shop.
I had a lot more stuff than I thought. Moving always points that out to you doesn't it? So I am going to go through and sell or donate whatever I can't otherwise use. That includes the printer I paid $100 or so for and my small television, vcr, and dvd player. I need to pare down my belongings so I can stop feeling so overwhelmed and so I can focus less on things and more on my family and God - the important things in life.
I will be getting started on my hand-milled soaps soon and aquired some dried lavender for a gentle abrasive to use. I am currently locating a source for essential oils, and after that a mold. Then I'll be ready. I'll be sure to post about it when it becomes available in the shop.
Home, Safely
We (the cat and I) made it to New York safe and sound at right around seven pm. That's one and a half hours better than the last time I made the same drive! We ran into less traffic this time, so that was a bonus. However, when I went to start the Impala this morning at 6:30 to begin our trip, it wouldn't start! Thank God that Uncle hadn't left for work yet because he has a mechanical mind and we were quick to ascertain that the battery was dead. That same battery has been in the same car for eight years, so we got our money's worth I suppose. I had to wait until Advance Auto opened to purchase a replacement. Luckily it was a very easy fix and installed by the Advance Auto employees for free (well it was free if you purchased the battery from them, which I did). They didn't open until 7:30am, which was a bummer because it felt like forever.
I am also grateful that it happened at mile 0, instead of three hundred miles away at the gas station. Towing would certainly have been more than the $119.00 I spent on battery replacement.
The first thing that told me I was home was the crisp, cool, fresh air. Slightly heavy with moisture it enveloped the car and worked it's way in. There is no mistaking the air here. Clean and pure.
Tomorrow I will have (hopefully) a few pictures from the county fair as I will be going with my sister after I finish orientation at my new/old job. I love the fair mostly because you are allowed to pet any of the open-pen show animals (horses are off-limits, and the cows face in, so you could pet their bottoms I suppose).
I am also grateful that it happened at mile 0, instead of three hundred miles away at the gas station. Towing would certainly have been more than the $119.00 I spent on battery replacement.
The first thing that told me I was home was the crisp, cool, fresh air. Slightly heavy with moisture it enveloped the car and worked it's way in. There is no mistaking the air here. Clean and pure.
Tomorrow I will have (hopefully) a few pictures from the county fair as I will be going with my sister after I finish orientation at my new/old job. I love the fair mostly because you are allowed to pet any of the open-pen show animals (horses are off-limits, and the cows face in, so you could pet their bottoms I suppose).
Homesteading Binder Additions
This past week I added the following to my Homesteading Binder:
I'm traveling home to New York today. It is well over 600 miles and takes right around twelve hours with stops for bathroom breaks and lunch. I am also traveling with my cat and she is not happy about it! Prayers of safety are appreciated.
- This milk-record sheet from The Prairie Homestead. It's for one animal for one month.
- This excellent guide: 10 Things to Consider When Living off the Land. It's stuffed full of great advice and practical thinking for when you are looking for your land.
- A vegetables-in-season and a fruits-in-season chart.
I'm traveling home to New York today. It is well over 600 miles and takes right around twelve hours with stops for bathroom breaks and lunch. I am also traveling with my cat and she is not happy about it! Prayers of safety are appreciated.
Public Assistance
I grew up in a place very much in the grip of "too much assistance" from the government Food Stamps program. I have consequently always held a negative view of the program. It wasn't one thing that soured my view, but a combination.
First was the unfortunate fact that several (I'll extend that to most) people on the program appear or smell dirty and generally seem of below average intelligence. (I know how judgmental the above statement sounds, but I've just sat here for fifteen minutes reading and rereading and I have to say that it's an honest reflection of my thoughts and accurate observations.)
Second is that I never saw my family on it. My mom assures me that at one point we did have food stamps, but that she doesn't believe a person ought to stay on the program longer than they actually need. I don't remember it, but I do remember my mom opening and operating her own state licensed daycare. You can bet that was hard, taking care of other children all day in addition to her own four.
Third is that I come from a stubborn area and extra stubborn stock. We have pride, we can farm, we have never been rich or pampered, and most of us know God. What more should a person need? Taking assistance is selling-out and giving up, and we look down upon those people.
I recently read an article that startled the daylights out of me. It illustrates the fact that the government wants to (and is) desperately encouraging enrollment in the program even though 1 in 7 Americans are already part of it. The tone of the article is that the government is only offering to help and if we would only trust them and let them show us how much better it would be on the SNAP or equivalent assistance program, we'd be so much happier. We shouldn't be so prideful that we won't accept the "help" because it will add desperately needed dollars to our town/village/city's economy.
I do not understand how someone could take assistance permanently and feel satisfied. Are we not glorified pets of the government then? Provided for and well-trained, not earning our keep but available for our master's amusement because of miss-placed loyalty. Fat and happy and content and controlled.
I believe we as a country need to start standing up for ourselves and working hard. It's such a foreign concept that we might not be in a perfectly climate controlled place, that we might have to work and wait for our food, even though our grandparents lived without such conveniences as we have today, we could never contemplate it. It is considered so far out there that those who would actively choose that life are looked upon as unstable, crazy, uneducated, and possibly dangerous. It's not right.
We need to change. We need to start refusing government assistance in any form, because until we do, we will be under the thumb of a master all too happy to have us right where we are wanted: dependent.
First was the unfortunate fact that several (I'll extend that to most) people on the program appear or smell dirty and generally seem of below average intelligence. (I know how judgmental the above statement sounds, but I've just sat here for fifteen minutes reading and rereading and I have to say that it's an honest reflection of my thoughts and accurate observations.)
Second is that I never saw my family on it. My mom assures me that at one point we did have food stamps, but that she doesn't believe a person ought to stay on the program longer than they actually need. I don't remember it, but I do remember my mom opening and operating her own state licensed daycare. You can bet that was hard, taking care of other children all day in addition to her own four.
Third is that I come from a stubborn area and extra stubborn stock. We have pride, we can farm, we have never been rich or pampered, and most of us know God. What more should a person need? Taking assistance is selling-out and giving up, and we look down upon those people.
I recently read an article that startled the daylights out of me. It illustrates the fact that the government wants to (and is) desperately encouraging enrollment in the program even though 1 in 7 Americans are already part of it. The tone of the article is that the government is only offering to help and if we would only trust them and let them show us how much better it would be on the SNAP or equivalent assistance program, we'd be so much happier. We shouldn't be so prideful that we won't accept the "help" because it will add desperately needed dollars to our town/village/city's economy.
I do not understand how someone could take assistance permanently and feel satisfied. Are we not glorified pets of the government then? Provided for and well-trained, not earning our keep but available for our master's amusement because of miss-placed loyalty. Fat and happy and content and controlled.
I believe we as a country need to start standing up for ourselves and working hard. It's such a foreign concept that we might not be in a perfectly climate controlled place, that we might have to work and wait for our food, even though our grandparents lived without such conveniences as we have today, we could never contemplate it. It is considered so far out there that those who would actively choose that life are looked upon as unstable, crazy, uneducated, and possibly dangerous. It's not right.
We need to change. We need to start refusing government assistance in any form, because until we do, we will be under the thumb of a master all too happy to have us right where we are wanted: dependent.
I found this article especially moving and motivating; she also links to the same article I read, above.
Ideas for Self-Employment
I have very specific ideas on what I do and do not want to do on my homestead. While I wait for the money and land to become available, I am endeavoring to do everything else I can to prepare. One of these preparations is figuring out money. I do not want to work off of my homestead.
I know this isn't a reality for a lot of people, and a lot of people aren't willing to give up their conveniences in order to stop working off the farm. As I progress I intend to reduce (with the goal of eliminating) my dependence on electricity and petroleum products (such as gas and oil). Reducing and eliminating these things as they become unnecessary will further reduce my bills. There is only one bill I can foresee always having to pay: taxes. Whether income, sales, property, or school, I believe at this time that there will be those taxes to pay.
The why is partially a quiet yearning to be under no man's heel or hand and reliant only on God and His provisions through my own hands, and partially because I have come to realize how very lazy and forgetful I have become when everything is easy and available right now.
However, this post is not a dissection of my motives and desires, it's a plain listing of my ideas on what I can do to make the money I will need for those infernal taxes.
1. Sewing
Since receiving my heavy duty Singer for my birthday I have already sewn several small items, what I would consider "easy-sells". I also cut and sewed drapes into valances for a co-worker, hemmed a pair of shorts for another co-worker, hemmed a pair of dress pants for my sister's boyfriend, and repaired a seam on my uncle's work pants. I was paid for one of these jobs so far. I do realize that I will have to start charging for my work if I intend to actually make money, but I am loath to do so because I am a people pleaser at heart. I recognize it and must work on it. You will see it as a reoccurring theme in the next entries.
2. Soapmaking
I have wanted to learn how to do this for at least the past year when I was told to look at the cute goat pictures on Suzanne's Chickens in the Road, and stuck around long enough to see her making soap! I am not up to mixing lye soap yet. I am currently using melt and pour glycerin base and supplies that were given to me as a birthday gift this past year (noticing a theme here?). When I finally move home (this coming Monday!) to New York and get settled in, I will be trying the hand-milled or French-milled method. I would have tried it much earlier except it needs three weeks to cure and I didn't want to transport soap that was still setting up across six hundred miles in a hot car.
3. Jams & Jellies
This is the hardest one on the list. In order to legally sell them they have to be prepared in a licensed commercial kitchen. I have thought about contacting a restaurant in my area and finding out if they would barter/trade time in the kitchen for access to my homemade jams for free, or discussing how much it would cost to rent the kitchen for a couple hours in their off hours. I have also thought about the church kitchen. Sometimes they are exempt from licensing, and sometimes not. I will find out when I get back home.
Of all the jam I've already made, all but two jars are spoken for and all but one delivered to its recipient. Again, I didn’t charge anything for them: they were gifts.
Those are the main ones I have come up with that would be pretty much immediately doable and available for sale. In the spring and summer I intend to inquire about getting tables at a few of the areas farmer's markets as my garden grows, and look into a booth at the county fair. I may also set up a table at the front of the house when work and school permit. We live on the main route through the area and we are only five minutes outside of town. I'm thinking it'd be a good source of customers.
I am aware there may be licenses or certificates or the like that I may be required to acquire. I intend (also upon returning to New York) to check in with the local Extension agent and find out what I need to do.
That's my immediate plan for saving the money I need to purchase my place, in addition to working at the grocery store in town. Eventually I'd like to sell excess products directly from my homestead as well as those above. Time will tell!
I know this isn't a reality for a lot of people, and a lot of people aren't willing to give up their conveniences in order to stop working off the farm. As I progress I intend to reduce (with the goal of eliminating) my dependence on electricity and petroleum products (such as gas and oil). Reducing and eliminating these things as they become unnecessary will further reduce my bills. There is only one bill I can foresee always having to pay: taxes. Whether income, sales, property, or school, I believe at this time that there will be those taxes to pay.
The why is partially a quiet yearning to be under no man's heel or hand and reliant only on God and His provisions through my own hands, and partially because I have come to realize how very lazy and forgetful I have become when everything is easy and available right now.
However, this post is not a dissection of my motives and desires, it's a plain listing of my ideas on what I can do to make the money I will need for those infernal taxes.
1. Sewing
Since receiving my heavy duty Singer for my birthday I have already sewn several small items, what I would consider "easy-sells". I also cut and sewed drapes into valances for a co-worker, hemmed a pair of shorts for another co-worker, hemmed a pair of dress pants for my sister's boyfriend, and repaired a seam on my uncle's work pants. I was paid for one of these jobs so far. I do realize that I will have to start charging for my work if I intend to actually make money, but I am loath to do so because I am a people pleaser at heart. I recognize it and must work on it. You will see it as a reoccurring theme in the next entries.
2. Soapmaking
I have wanted to learn how to do this for at least the past year when I was told to look at the cute goat pictures on Suzanne's Chickens in the Road, and stuck around long enough to see her making soap! I am not up to mixing lye soap yet. I am currently using melt and pour glycerin base and supplies that were given to me as a birthday gift this past year (noticing a theme here?). When I finally move home (this coming Monday!) to New York and get settled in, I will be trying the hand-milled or French-milled method. I would have tried it much earlier except it needs three weeks to cure and I didn't want to transport soap that was still setting up across six hundred miles in a hot car.
3. Jams & Jellies
This is the hardest one on the list. In order to legally sell them they have to be prepared in a licensed commercial kitchen. I have thought about contacting a restaurant in my area and finding out if they would barter/trade time in the kitchen for access to my homemade jams for free, or discussing how much it would cost to rent the kitchen for a couple hours in their off hours. I have also thought about the church kitchen. Sometimes they are exempt from licensing, and sometimes not. I will find out when I get back home.
Of all the jam I've already made, all but two jars are spoken for and all but one delivered to its recipient. Again, I didn’t charge anything for them: they were gifts.
Those are the main ones I have come up with that would be pretty much immediately doable and available for sale. In the spring and summer I intend to inquire about getting tables at a few of the areas farmer's markets as my garden grows, and look into a booth at the county fair. I may also set up a table at the front of the house when work and school permit. We live on the main route through the area and we are only five minutes outside of town. I'm thinking it'd be a good source of customers.
I am aware there may be licenses or certificates or the like that I may be required to acquire. I intend (also upon returning to New York) to check in with the local Extension agent and find out what I need to do.
That's my immediate plan for saving the money I need to purchase my place, in addition to working at the grocery store in town. Eventually I'd like to sell excess products directly from my homestead as well as those above. Time will tell!
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
I finished The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski yesterday afternoon. In fact I fairly vibrated in my car in impatience to get home and read the last few pages. (I may or may not have been reading it during working hours.) Then it was over. Done and gone and nothing more.
I knew the moment I started reading it that I would like this book. It starts out excellently and only goes upward from there. The reader is thrown into the story as if you've already been reading for twenty pages, but you quickly catch on.
I found it via a recommendation on Amazon, and upon reading the glowing endorsement of the novel from Stephen King, I decided to give it a try. The reviews below from purchasers are a mixed bag though. Read too many negative and you will be tempted to not read the book at all. Now that I have finished the book, I understand the frustration voiced so clearly in those reviews and I share it with them. However, I do not feel the book was at all a waste of my time. I feel enriched by this novel, in fact, happy to have read it.
I won't tell you the story has a happy ending, but it does have an ending which I whole-heartedly believe fits it. I wanted so badly for things to be different at the end, but they weren't. The journey of the rest of the book though, that's where I will remember my time in Edgar Sawtelle's world.
Edgar is a boy born to two hard working dog breeders living on a farm in a small town in Wisconsin. The dogs are named after the boys grandfather who started the breed. They are called simply Sawtelles. The dogs play an integral role in the story, and being the dog person I am I found myself intrigued by these animals and Edgar's grandfather's passion for them. I also found myself longing to be there next to Edgar's mother, Trudy, as she trained the dogs so I could observe her methods.
Edgar cannot speak. He can hear and see, but he can't talk. The doctors don't know why, but we quickly realize it isn't really a problem for the family. When their highly intuitive house dog (a Sawtelle of course), Almondine, picks up on Edgar's silent cries his first night home, we can see the pattern of their relationship unfold.
I loved the silence of Edgar. I loved the way he thought and reasoned and how he treated the dogs and how they understood him, even without a voice. I often found myself unwilling to speak after spending mere minutes engrossed in the text of this book.
Of course nothing can stay idyllic forever. Tragedy strikes and the lives of Edgar and his father and mother and even the dogs are ultimately changed irrevocably.
This is not a light read, nor one that you will be done with after a day of hard reading, but it is so very much worth your effort. I believe every author has a reason behind every word they write and therefore I am willing to accept the ending he saw fit, even if I didn't like it. Ultimately it isn't my story, but his to tell.
I cannot ask you enough to go to the library if you don't want to commit to buying the book and just give it an honest try. There is no way you could possibly be sorry for spending time with Edgar and Almondine in the world so carefully, lovingly crafted by Mr. Wroblewski.
I knew the moment I started reading it that I would like this book. It starts out excellently and only goes upward from there. The reader is thrown into the story as if you've already been reading for twenty pages, but you quickly catch on.
I found it via a recommendation on Amazon, and upon reading the glowing endorsement of the novel from Stephen King, I decided to give it a try. The reviews below from purchasers are a mixed bag though. Read too many negative and you will be tempted to not read the book at all. Now that I have finished the book, I understand the frustration voiced so clearly in those reviews and I share it with them. However, I do not feel the book was at all a waste of my time. I feel enriched by this novel, in fact, happy to have read it.
I won't tell you the story has a happy ending, but it does have an ending which I whole-heartedly believe fits it. I wanted so badly for things to be different at the end, but they weren't. The journey of the rest of the book though, that's where I will remember my time in Edgar Sawtelle's world.
Edgar is a boy born to two hard working dog breeders living on a farm in a small town in Wisconsin. The dogs are named after the boys grandfather who started the breed. They are called simply Sawtelles. The dogs play an integral role in the story, and being the dog person I am I found myself intrigued by these animals and Edgar's grandfather's passion for them. I also found myself longing to be there next to Edgar's mother, Trudy, as she trained the dogs so I could observe her methods.
Edgar cannot speak. He can hear and see, but he can't talk. The doctors don't know why, but we quickly realize it isn't really a problem for the family. When their highly intuitive house dog (a Sawtelle of course), Almondine, picks up on Edgar's silent cries his first night home, we can see the pattern of their relationship unfold.
I loved the silence of Edgar. I loved the way he thought and reasoned and how he treated the dogs and how they understood him, even without a voice. I often found myself unwilling to speak after spending mere minutes engrossed in the text of this book.
Of course nothing can stay idyllic forever. Tragedy strikes and the lives of Edgar and his father and mother and even the dogs are ultimately changed irrevocably.
This is not a light read, nor one that you will be done with after a day of hard reading, but it is so very much worth your effort. I believe every author has a reason behind every word they write and therefore I am willing to accept the ending he saw fit, even if I didn't like it. Ultimately it isn't my story, but his to tell.
I cannot ask you enough to go to the library if you don't want to commit to buying the book and just give it an honest try. There is no way you could possibly be sorry for spending time with Edgar and Almondine in the world so carefully, lovingly crafted by Mr. Wroblewski.
*As a side note, I was not compensated in any way for this review
by either the author or Amazon and I purchased the book with my own money.
The Importance of Stars
Bortle Dark-Sky Scale lists my home as a number four on the scale (1 being the darkest, 9 being the least dark). I personally think that it is a number three, especially after reading the descriptions of each number, and determining that the closest reporting observatory is actually quite far away. However the area that I currently live in rates a seven. (Check your sky here. Use this chart here to determine rating based on color.)
When I moved here, to Virginia, the stars hardly crossed my mind for the first few months while I adjusted to a new place, living in the city, new routines, and applied myself to finding a job. But then they began to call to me.
At home, in New York, I look to the sky for comfort. I enjoy stargazing on a blanket in the yard. (Though now that all the trees are grown up, the middle of the driveway is the best place for stargazing.) One night in Virginia I went outside to do a little looking-up. Imagine my surprise at only seeing one or two tiny points of light sparkling back at me! A phrase entered my mind then that I had only heard once, but never forgot and never truly understood until that moment: light pollution.
How strange the orange glow on the horizon, as if the edges of the sky were on fire! The moon shone brightly to my right and those two stars burned through the indigo backdrop. I was mesmerized. I had no idea that people couldn't see the sky as I had always seen it: clear with the stars shining benevolently down. I couldn't believe that I wouldn't be able to go outside and find the Big and Little Dippers, and the North Star.
This is a picture of the Big Dipper, the Little Dipper, and Polaris - the North Star.
One of my routines upon returning to New York for visits and the like has been to walk outside on that first cool, clear night and look up. It's like a balm on my soul: to be outside, gazing at the stars, contemplating the vastness of Creation and the very small space in it that I occupy. The very small space that occupies everyone I have ever known and affected in some way. The stars are very good that way. Allowing for such large thoughts.
I encourage and urge you to go outside and look up. If you are lucky you will see constellations. If you don't see many stars at all, then I hope that somehow, sometime in your life you will see them as I have and that you will allow yourself to truly see how very small you are in comparison.
When I moved here, to Virginia, the stars hardly crossed my mind for the first few months while I adjusted to a new place, living in the city, new routines, and applied myself to finding a job. But then they began to call to me.
At home, in New York, I look to the sky for comfort. I enjoy stargazing on a blanket in the yard. (Though now that all the trees are grown up, the middle of the driveway is the best place for stargazing.) One night in Virginia I went outside to do a little looking-up. Imagine my surprise at only seeing one or two tiny points of light sparkling back at me! A phrase entered my mind then that I had only heard once, but never forgot and never truly understood until that moment: light pollution.
How strange the orange glow on the horizon, as if the edges of the sky were on fire! The moon shone brightly to my right and those two stars burned through the indigo backdrop. I was mesmerized. I had no idea that people couldn't see the sky as I had always seen it: clear with the stars shining benevolently down. I couldn't believe that I wouldn't be able to go outside and find the Big and Little Dippers, and the North Star.
Source: Astropix.com via Pinterest
One of my routines upon returning to New York for visits and the like has been to walk outside on that first cool, clear night and look up. It's like a balm on my soul: to be outside, gazing at the stars, contemplating the vastness of Creation and the very small space in it that I occupy. The very small space that occupies everyone I have ever known and affected in some way. The stars are very good that way. Allowing for such large thoughts.
I encourage and urge you to go outside and look up. If you are lucky you will see constellations. If you don't see many stars at all, then I hope that somehow, sometime in your life you will see them as I have and that you will allow yourself to truly see how very small you are in comparison.
Homesteading Binder Additions
I thought that Mondays could serve as the round-up of whatever I have added to my Homesteading Binder this past week.
So, without further ado:
This list of 22 lessons in running a successful farmers market stand. It sounds promising, though I haven't full read through it as I only added it to my binder this morning.
I also printed information on cultivating and transplanting wild blackberries, because my uncle has tons of blackberries every summer, but I have none. I thought to transplant a few. However, the link seems broken. Here's the link anyway, just in case it's back up soon.
A list of cold-temperate perennial plants that grow in my zone. I got the list from here. Just click your area and it will take you to the correct list.
That's it! Three new additions this week.
So, without further ado:
This list of 22 lessons in running a successful farmers market stand. It sounds promising, though I haven't full read through it as I only added it to my binder this morning.
I also printed information on cultivating and transplanting wild blackberries, because my uncle has tons of blackberries every summer, but I have none. I thought to transplant a few. However, the link seems broken. Here's the link anyway, just in case it's back up soon.
A list of cold-temperate perennial plants that grow in my zone. I got the list from here. Just click your area and it will take you to the correct list.
That's it! Three new additions this week.
On Cloning
Cloning our public milk and meat puts more power straight into the hands of major monopolic conglomerations. They are the ones that can afford the complicated equipment and personnel to engineer and place these clones into their surrogate mothers. They also have the money needed to enlist or build and employ veterinary facilities for their often sickly cloned infant animals.
That leaves family farms again unable to meet the demand of the public for good, cheap meat. That's a lot of why we are in this mess we are in, because we didn't want to wait for the animals to grow to slaughter weight naturally. The demand for so much meat isn't sustainable naturally - they way God intended it to be - and so we allow other people to pump our food full of unnatural feed and antibiotics to force it to grow to slaughter weight (1200 pounds for a steer) in just 14 months. Allowed to reach this weight naturally, it would take years.
Why clone at all? It is infinitely more expensive to raise a cloned animal (from impregnation to birth to slaughter), and so it's been suggested that the companies would then use the more valuable animal for breeding purposes instead of slaughtering it for the market. Just because we can, doesn't mean we should.
Cloned animals are more sickly than (I hate to call them "regular" or "normal" animals) their traditional counterparts and if not for highly specialized veterinary care, most would die long before they were even born. These high rates of miscarriages put strain and stress on surrogate mothers. Babies, if born alive, can be malformed and are certainly in more jeopardy health-wise than normal babies.
The FDA continually ignores public outcry that cloned meat and milk at least be labeled so consumers who wish to can avoid it.
Those who do resist are often labeled negatively and laughed at and patted on the head as if a small child who asked a dumb question. We are reassured with easy language and pat answers that everything is okay, that everything is safe. But we are told that so often - that something is okay and safe - that we are becoming suspicious. We know better.
Their arguments are that the same outcries went up over pasteurizing milk, and over artificial insemination and look where we are on those issues now. That we are obviously better off and cloning will follow the same path.
Those of us awake to the real food of yore know what is wrong with these things. We know they are not of God. We refuse to be coddled and reassured with falsities and we resist, albeit peacefully. We bring (most of) our food from the ground with hard work and prayer. We are trying to break through with earnest pleas for intelligence in regards to that most basic of needs: healthy food.
That leaves family farms again unable to meet the demand of the public for good, cheap meat. That's a lot of why we are in this mess we are in, because we didn't want to wait for the animals to grow to slaughter weight naturally. The demand for so much meat isn't sustainable naturally - they way God intended it to be - and so we allow other people to pump our food full of unnatural feed and antibiotics to force it to grow to slaughter weight (1200 pounds for a steer) in just 14 months. Allowed to reach this weight naturally, it would take years.
 |
 |
Why clone at all? It is infinitely more expensive to raise a cloned animal (from impregnation to birth to slaughter), and so it's been suggested that the companies would then use the more valuable animal for breeding purposes instead of slaughtering it for the market. Just because we can, doesn't mean we should.
Cloned animals are more sickly than (I hate to call them "regular" or "normal" animals) their traditional counterparts and if not for highly specialized veterinary care, most would die long before they were even born. These high rates of miscarriages put strain and stress on surrogate mothers. Babies, if born alive, can be malformed and are certainly in more jeopardy health-wise than normal babies.
The FDA continually ignores public outcry that cloned meat and milk at least be labeled so consumers who wish to can avoid it.
Those who do resist are often labeled negatively and laughed at and patted on the head as if a small child who asked a dumb question. We are reassured with easy language and pat answers that everything is okay, that everything is safe. But we are told that so often - that something is okay and safe - that we are becoming suspicious. We know better.
Their arguments are that the same outcries went up over pasteurizing milk, and over artificial insemination and look where we are on those issues now. That we are obviously better off and cloning will follow the same path.
Those of us awake to the real food of yore know what is wrong with these things. We know they are not of God. We refuse to be coddled and reassured with falsities and we resist, albeit peacefully. We bring (most of) our food from the ground with hard work and prayer. We are trying to break through with earnest pleas for intelligence in regards to that most basic of needs: healthy food.
Sources:
http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/campaign/cloned-animals/
http://www.livescience.com/2182-cloned-milk-meat-beef.html
Photos: William Warby.
Homemade Chicken Broth
Have you made chicken broth from scratch yet? If not, why not give it a try? It's easy and simple and so much better for you than the store stuff because you know exactly what's in it (and you control salt content)!
Easy, right!? Absolutely simple, and it makes the house smell divine! After a night in the fridge, remove the congealed fat from the top. If you make a mistake and add too much spice, add a little more water. If you add too much water, mix in a little more spice. It'll turn out, I promise.
Now, this can be canned and stored just like the store stuff, but you need to do it with a pressure canner. A regular water-bath canner does not reach a high enough temperature to kill botulism, a rare but deadly bacterium that produces nerve toxin. I didn't actually can this batch, because I don't have a pressure canner, but I liked how it looked in the jars anyway.
I used a fair bit the day after this batch was made in a chicken topped with biscuit dish I was trying out. Yum!
Basic Chicken Broth
Ingredients:
1 WHOLE rosted chicken, picked mostly clean of meat.
VEGETABLES to taste.
(I used: 5 stalks of CELERY,
1 large chopped ONION,
1 sliced green PEPPER
4 smashed cloves of GARLIC,
SALT & PEPPER.)
These are what I had on hand, you could add CARROTS, THYME, ROSEMARY, PARSELY, BAY LEAF, SAGE, and anything else you can think of. It's really hard to ruin.
WATER to cover.
Place chicken carcass into a large pot. Add vegetables. Add enough water to entirely cover the chicken. Set over burner, turn the fire to low and do not cover.
Leave it alone for at least 1 1/2 hours, but you can skim as needed.
Strain broth using a colander or mesh strainer.
Pick any remaining meat from the chicken and put into a separate container to use later.
Store in glass jars in the fridge.
Easy, right!? Absolutely simple, and it makes the house smell divine! After a night in the fridge, remove the congealed fat from the top. If you make a mistake and add too much spice, add a little more water. If you add too much water, mix in a little more spice. It'll turn out, I promise.
Now, this can be canned and stored just like the store stuff, but you need to do it with a pressure canner. A regular water-bath canner does not reach a high enough temperature to kill botulism, a rare but deadly bacterium that produces nerve toxin. I didn't actually can this batch, because I don't have a pressure canner, but I liked how it looked in the jars anyway.
I used a fair bit the day after this batch was made in a chicken topped with biscuit dish I was trying out. Yum!
Ye Olde Microwave
I could live without a microwave. Sure, it'd be a little inconvenient at first, but then it would force me to be more proactive about planning dinners and eating healthy food. I have never really trusted them anyway. I guess it sort of niggled at the back of my mind without ever truly coming to the surface.
However as I am awakening into real food, I am facing things that I never thought of before. Never considered. Always taken as good and true and right because that's what we are told; that these things are normal.
I will be going cold turkey on microwaves, especially after reading this article on the subject that is well researched and full of examples. I didn't know that microwaving certain foods in certain materials can cause carcinogens to form in otherwise healthy food! What? That's utterly insane. Why use something that will give you cancer?! Just... wow.
How disappointing that we are told this is safe.
How frustrating that this information is so unknown, and that people are so unwilling to hear it.
I had a microwave that mom gave me for Christmas one year. I am happy to say that it has been gone for months now to someone else (though knowing what I know now, I'm feeling guilty for giving her that thing). Though I live with people who do use theirs on occasion, I am personally giving it up for good.
- From the (now non-microwaving) Sweetgrass Cookery.
However as I am awakening into real food, I am facing things that I never thought of before. Never considered. Always taken as good and true and right because that's what we are told; that these things are normal.
I will be going cold turkey on microwaves, especially after reading this article on the subject that is well researched and full of examples. I didn't know that microwaving certain foods in certain materials can cause carcinogens to form in otherwise healthy food! What? That's utterly insane. Why use something that will give you cancer?! Just... wow.
How disappointing that we are told this is safe.
How frustrating that this information is so unknown, and that people are so unwilling to hear it.
I had a microwave that mom gave me for Christmas one year. I am happy to say that it has been gone for months now to someone else (though knowing what I know now, I'm feeling guilty for giving her that thing). Though I live with people who do use theirs on occasion, I am personally giving it up for good.
- From the (now non-microwaving) Sweetgrass Cookery.
Homesteading Binder Additions
These are the pages I added today to my homesteading binder; linked so you can add them to yours too.
This image from this website about herbs and their uses in food. I thought it would come in handy when I have an over-abundance or can't think of what to use an herb in. I had to cut this image into four pages in my Adobe Photoshop program because they wouldn't all fit onto one print where I could still read it.
I re-typed the graphic from this article onto a Word document, but I left off the advice about pesticides and citronella oil and just stuck with the vegetable and herb ones.
This chart from this article which lists which vegetables and herbs can be grown in the shade and how they'll do. The charts from this article about which vegetables grow well together as well as what to not grow with them. I copied them to a Word document and printed them.
I'm afraid I'm going to run out of room awfully soon in my tiny binder if I keep up this pace!
Also, I wanted to assure anyone reading this that I promise there will be an abundance of pictures soon. I lost my camera cable and am almost ready to purchase a new camera too, so for now, I'm very limited.
This image from this website about herbs and their uses in food. I thought it would come in handy when I have an over-abundance or can't think of what to use an herb in. I had to cut this image into four pages in my Adobe Photoshop program because they wouldn't all fit onto one print where I could still read it.
I re-typed the graphic from this article onto a Word document, but I left off the advice about pesticides and citronella oil and just stuck with the vegetable and herb ones.
This chart from this article which lists which vegetables and herbs can be grown in the shade and how they'll do. The charts from this article about which vegetables grow well together as well as what to not grow with them. I copied them to a Word document and printed them.
I'm afraid I'm going to run out of room awfully soon in my tiny binder if I keep up this pace!
Also, I wanted to assure anyone reading this that I promise there will be an abundance of pictures soon. I lost my camera cable and am almost ready to purchase a new camera too, so for now, I'm very limited.
Home to Woefield: A Novel
I did finish the cover for my Homesteading Binder yesterday and added the pages about making lye and also a small chart I found here that shows the average first frost and last frost for garden planning purposes.
I also finished reading a wonderful, if quirky, book yesterday that I thought I'd share.
I ordered it from Amazon about a week ago on a whim. Well, I guess it could be considered a want. I don't know. What I do know is that I needed to round out my order of $8.64 for a 1/16th inch hole punch. Why would I need a 1/16th inch hole punch? To punch small, perfect holes in cardstock tags for the products I am aiming to sell at the farmer's market and craft fair next year.
Anyway, Amazon recommended a book entitled: Home to Woefield by Susan Juby. I read about it and was intrigued. See I had just finished another excellent book: The Dirty Life: On Farming, Food, and Love by Kristin Kimball and was aching for another book on farming.
I added Woefield to my wishlist and moved on, trying to find something already in my cart or wishlist that had been there longer. In the end it nagged at the back of my mind until I bought it.
It's about a young woman named Prudence from New York City who is very much a part of the Back-to-the-Earth movement (she even has an earthworm composting farm in her apartment) when she learns that her Uncle died and left her a farm in Canada. She decides it's the perfect opportunity to practice what she preaches and moves in.
The farm comes with a small town packed full of interesting people, a crotchety old man who has lived on the farm forever, a neighbor across the road who blogs about heavy metal, and a very serious young girl. Prudence is at once admirable and pitiable. She seems fairly clueless but is so optimistic and hardworking that you can't help but hope she succeeds.
The book focuses mostly on the story and less on the farming aspect unlike Kimball's book, but then again this book is fiction. The characters and really the whole story are fantastic and fun. A word of caution though: it really is chockfull of swear words and taking the Lord's name in vain. It bothered me on more than one occasion and I would not let children read it, but as far as reading it just to myself - I skimmed over them or read a different word in place of the offensive ones.
For a nice, easy, entertaining read I would recommend this book, but don't go expecting a lot out of the ending. It feels rushed. I felt like we had spent all this time getting to know everyone and then we get cut off from them very suddenly where the story ends. Everything seems resolved toward the end, but still it is very abrupt.
Overall I really enjoyed this one.
I also finished reading a wonderful, if quirky, book yesterday that I thought I'd share.
I ordered it from Amazon about a week ago on a whim. Well, I guess it could be considered a want. I don't know. What I do know is that I needed to round out my order of $8.64 for a 1/16th inch hole punch. Why would I need a 1/16th inch hole punch? To punch small, perfect holes in cardstock tags for the products I am aiming to sell at the farmer's market and craft fair next year.
Anyway, Amazon recommended a book entitled: Home to Woefield by Susan Juby. I read about it and was intrigued. See I had just finished another excellent book: The Dirty Life: On Farming, Food, and Love by Kristin Kimball and was aching for another book on farming.
I added Woefield to my wishlist and moved on, trying to find something already in my cart or wishlist that had been there longer. In the end it nagged at the back of my mind until I bought it.
It's about a young woman named Prudence from New York City who is very much a part of the Back-to-the-Earth movement (she even has an earthworm composting farm in her apartment) when she learns that her Uncle died and left her a farm in Canada. She decides it's the perfect opportunity to practice what she preaches and moves in.
The farm comes with a small town packed full of interesting people, a crotchety old man who has lived on the farm forever, a neighbor across the road who blogs about heavy metal, and a very serious young girl. Prudence is at once admirable and pitiable. She seems fairly clueless but is so optimistic and hardworking that you can't help but hope she succeeds.
The book focuses mostly on the story and less on the farming aspect unlike Kimball's book, but then again this book is fiction. The characters and really the whole story are fantastic and fun. A word of caution though: it really is chockfull of swear words and taking the Lord's name in vain. It bothered me on more than one occasion and I would not let children read it, but as far as reading it just to myself - I skimmed over them or read a different word in place of the offensive ones.
For a nice, easy, entertaining read I would recommend this book, but don't go expecting a lot out of the ending. It feels rushed. I felt like we had spent all this time getting to know everyone and then we get cut off from them very suddenly where the story ends. Everything seems resolved toward the end, but still it is very abrupt.
Overall I really enjoyed this one.
*As a side note, I was not compensated in any way for this review
by either the author or Amazon and I purchased the book with my own money.
Homesteading Binder & Lye
I thought that the very best way to begin tracking what I know, what I want to learn and general information is to start a Homesteading Binder. I have an admittedly small binder to use, but it will be remedied if (when) the information outgrows the binder.
So far this binder has one thing in it: a guide on How to Make Lye. It's a direct print from this page here. It sounds promising with ways to gauge the strength of the lye with regards to soap making, and without having to constantly buy ph strips from a store or online.
I spent quite a bit of time wondering where in the world I would get lye if I didn't buy it, and after all that wondering I decided to actually research it. I should have lead with that! It took all of three seconds to read that lye is made from soaking wood ashes in water. Specifically a hardwood because other types will not mix well with the fats necessary to make soap. The website above makes a few wood suggestions, but the forests around me are just packed with sugar maples and so that's the kind I will use.
I'm not set up to try it now, but as a resource it's a good thing to nail down and add to the binder. Does anyone else keep a binder like this? I know that Quinn at Reformation Acres has mentioned hers a time or two, with some good downloads to use.
Animal, garden, land, fencing, and home management can be all contained in one Homesteading Binder, or multiple ones where each is dedicated to one topic. I'm not sure how this will work out, but I have confidence that I will learn and adapt as I move along. As I change it, I will share it here!
So far this binder has one thing in it: a guide on How to Make Lye. It's a direct print from this page here. It sounds promising with ways to gauge the strength of the lye with regards to soap making, and without having to constantly buy ph strips from a store or online.
I spent quite a bit of time wondering where in the world I would get lye if I didn't buy it, and after all that wondering I decided to actually research it. I should have lead with that! It took all of three seconds to read that lye is made from soaking wood ashes in water. Specifically a hardwood because other types will not mix well with the fats necessary to make soap. The website above makes a few wood suggestions, but the forests around me are just packed with sugar maples and so that's the kind I will use.
I'm not set up to try it now, but as a resource it's a good thing to nail down and add to the binder. Does anyone else keep a binder like this? I know that Quinn at Reformation Acres has mentioned hers a time or two, with some good downloads to use.
Animal, garden, land, fencing, and home management can be all contained in one Homesteading Binder, or multiple ones where each is dedicated to one topic. I'm not sure how this will work out, but I have confidence that I will learn and adapt as I move along. As I change it, I will share it here!
Beginnings
Inside all of us is a wild thing; a longing for a life filled with wild joy.
Our dreams reside in the quiet parts of our souls. Those dreams we are loathe to share with most people are the ones most dear to us, the ones we are afraid of losing should even a word of their crazy ambition escape.
My dream is to, within a few short years, purchase at least forty acres and begin my homestead. Not just a homestead as the new 'Back to the Land' movement sees it though. I would like to, eventually, learn to live and thrive without electricity, gasoline or oil-powered appliances, and city-provided water.
I have not shared this with many of the people closest to me. Mostly in fear of their rejection of my ideas and because they are very good at talking me out of things. I know they won't mean to squash my dreams, and would only be looking to give practical advice, but sometimes a dream needs to be lived without judgment from others.
I know it will be hard. I know it is contrary to what most people consider normal. I don't know if I can do it, but I will try. That's the key to everything right? All those inspirational quotes say that trying is the most important part of life. That to get anywhere you have to try. To take risks and leap without looking.
The life I am seeking is an old one, but I believe it is the right one. So many passage of the Holy Bible point to an agrarian lifestyle, but here are the two that speak to the deepest places in my soul.
I intend this blog to be part story, part resource for any others on this same (or similar) path.
Thank you for joining me.
Our dreams reside in the quiet parts of our souls. Those dreams we are loathe to share with most people are the ones most dear to us, the ones we are afraid of losing should even a word of their crazy ambition escape.
My dream is to, within a few short years, purchase at least forty acres and begin my homestead. Not just a homestead as the new 'Back to the Land' movement sees it though. I would like to, eventually, learn to live and thrive without electricity, gasoline or oil-powered appliances, and city-provided water.
I have not shared this with many of the people closest to me. Mostly in fear of their rejection of my ideas and because they are very good at talking me out of things. I know they won't mean to squash my dreams, and would only be looking to give practical advice, but sometimes a dream needs to be lived without judgment from others.
I know it will be hard. I know it is contrary to what most people consider normal. I don't know if I can do it, but I will try. That's the key to everything right? All those inspirational quotes say that trying is the most important part of life. That to get anywhere you have to try. To take risks and leap without looking.
The life I am seeking is an old one, but I believe it is the right one. So many passage of the Holy Bible point to an agrarian lifestyle, but here are the two that speak to the deepest places in my soul.
Until I can actually purchase my land, I will be striving to learn everything I can in preparation. I will be canning fruits at home and vegetables with a friend’s mother. I will be growing my first garden, learning to make soap and eventually, making the lye for my soap. Cheesemaking, milking, livestock management, cooking from scratch, and home remedies are all things I am going to familiarize myself with as much as I can until I get to the point of that wonderful purchase.1 Thessalonians 4:11-12
"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody."
Jeremiah 6:16
"Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls."
I intend this blog to be part story, part resource for any others on this same (or similar) path.
Thank you for joining me.
Subscribe to:
Posts
(
Atom
)