tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-445983599650185532023-11-15T22:09:42.905-08:00Hrafinstaad HomesteadRoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14960233101785516144noreply@blogger.comBlogger381125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44598359965018553.post-84841559498255635772015-03-19T09:15:00.001-07:002015-03-19T09:15:49.083-07:00MarchTowards the end of February the weather turned towards what was really seeming like an early false Spring,warmer and sunnier weather that had me a bit puzzled so I chose to sit on my hands when it came to gardening. But the weather has held and I was noticing that the really nice gardens in town were looking like they were being worked on. Following the lead of those gardens Chance and I got busy.<br />
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Since our new garden area is way bigger than our whole back yard was in Beaverton we made the choice to rent a rototiller for around $40,Best.Money.Ever.Spent! It took Chance about an hour and half start to finish.While he tilled I followed behind picking up rocks,black plastic ( ick,dislike that stuff so much.) and whatever else popped up.When we were finished Chance said to me, "An hour and half was much better than 8 hours of digging." My reply was, "Ummmm wait don't you mean 8 days of digging? I mean come on think it through."<br />
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The next day while I was at work Chance went and picked up a load of Llama manure for free.There is a local farm that is more than happy to share. I guess the lady farmer was very nice and told Chance if we need more just to call and we are welcome to come get it even if she isn't home.<br />
There was plenty so Chance spread it out over the garden and the flower beds in the front yard with some to spare.<br />
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I am curious to see how the garden does with the Llama manure,AKA Llama Beans because it looks like little beans. I tried to find a good link to share without much luck,most of them were farms selling their beans. But from what I understand it's some of the best manure out there,right up there with rabbit manure. Since it is not a hot cooking manure you can use it to top dress at any time without burning your plants. One idea I want to try is making some manure tea with it. Growing up my parents used rabbit manure tea with really good results so I will be looking into this project soon.<br />
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I have done some early planting,sweet peas,a few gifted flower plants and hops. According to the OSU Master Gardener site we are still too early to get much in the ground directly. Their website shows that the growing season here is only a couple of weeks off from the season in the Willamette Valley.<br />
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There are also several plants like squashes and cucumbers that we will have to have starts for instead of directly sowing like we used to. Luckily we do have the green house here which is Chance's temporary shop but I can use one end to get some seedlings started. Another new project for us. In Beaverton we just did not have a good window to do seedlings in so we never bothered. We have been saving <a href="http://www.urbanorganicgardener.com/2010/03/using-toilet-paper-roll-to-start-seeds/">toilet paper tubes to use for our seedlings</a>.<br />
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Yesterday as Chance and I were heading into Bend to do our weekly grocery run Chance asked if I would like to stop at the feed store to look around (he takes me to the best places.). I am always willing to stop at a feed store so of course I said yes. Well..that fellow of mine he's a sweet man who knows me best knew that the feed store had chicks in. He also knew that although we have tried to get chicks from local farmers with ads online we kept striking out. And we need new chicks if we are going to have eggs ever again. So of course when I spied they actually had Ameracuna's aka Easter Egger's, 6 of them came home with us. I still want a few more chicks or ducklings,we are still on the hunt for them.<br />
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Which brings me to this morning. Our little dog Sparrow is small yet mighty,knows that protecting the coop and hen's is her job and it's serious business of hers. This morning Sparrow is patiently sitting near the tub where the chicks are,watching over them like the good dog she is. The only fuss she is making is she can't see over the high sides of the tub to check on the chicks if they are fussing.How is a girl to do her job with such high tub walls?<br />
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This is where Win comes in. Win is afraid of the hens,he has been told sternly they are not for him to play with,those are Mama's hens and it's Sparrows job to care for them. But Win follows Sparrows lead whenever there is something new he does not understand. He has been laying farther from the chicks than Sparrow but dutifully watching and learning. Win realized the issue with the tub sides.So Win has been very slowly and quietly creeping over to peek in the tub when the chicks and Sparrow are fussing.He then gives Sparrow a look that says " I think they are ok". Then everyone settles back into watching.<br />
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It's a funny little story of two dogs I know but I am pretty happy to see this.It shows that Win is starting to understand his place in our pack,that Sparrow is above him in order and maybe a bond is forming between the two.<br />
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I am feeling like our little home is bursting full of life again. The energy of a younger dog has been a really good thing for all of us. For now a tub full of chicks in a corner of the kitchen is so sweet.I know I will change my mind on that one once the chicks are almost too big to be in a tub but for now it is a good sweetness. It's a good thing that at least for now the weather is good so we can spill some of that energy outside into the sunshine.<br />
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Part of me is hopeful this early Spring will stick around and make it until Summer is here.But part of me knows it will make for a dry summer leading to higher fire dangers and the need to worry about our well drying up.<br />
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The last thing to share from house and home is this not great photo. All over the property are this large patches of little tiny bright yellow flowers. I love coming across them,when the sun shines on them they are like these moments of summer,cheerful and bright after the colorless winter months. I wish I could have captured their glow when the sun is on them.<br />
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Anyone else getting their gardens going? Have any exciting plans for new things to try this growing season?</div>
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Best regards until next time</div>
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Rois</div>
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<br />Roishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14960233101785516144noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44598359965018553.post-79067339468021087632015-02-22T15:32:00.001-08:002015-02-22T15:32:48.924-08:00Introducing our new family member.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This is Winston Silvershanks,aka Win. He joined our family a few days ago. He's an eleven month old German Shepard, his colors are called Silver and Black. He adopted him from a local shelter. We have really lucked out with this young fellow, his former owner had already put lots of work into him, he's fully house trained, great manners and smart as a whip. He is even very good with Little Sparrow and looks to her for direction when he not sure about what to do next. The people at the shelter told us Search and Rescue had considered him for training but he turned away because he is too centered on people, he's smart but too loving. That's ok with us, we want exactly that in a dog.<br />
We had been talking about getting a young dog before Thora passed away to bring some energy into the house. So far we are totally head over heels in love with him.<br />
Yesterday we took him up into the woods to see how he did off leash and see what kind of adventure dog he might be. His off leash manners are good, he stayed fairly close to us. When we came to some spots where we had things to climb over he watched us and then watched Sparrow then followed right along.It didn't take long for him to catch on to scrambling and to our whistle commands.<br />
The photo above is of him after our hike, three miles of running a trail made for a sleepy pup once home.Roishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14960233101785516144noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44598359965018553.post-72439352415844391742015-02-13T14:22:00.000-08:002015-02-13T15:55:19.926-08:00It's been a while since I have been here hasn't it? Well, you know has been that post holidays quiet around here.That waiting time of year.That time of year when it's nice to just winter into the house,not that it has been overly cold or snowy,just winter. But to just be home being homey,no place to really go,just doing ordinary things.<br />
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Then February comes, so do the seed catalogs and those false spring days. Suddenly you are awake from the nap that is January with the urge to dig in the soil,to be outdoors and the itchy need to be moving has you pacing the floor.<br />
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But remember I used those words "false spring". It's too soon for many tasks. Too soon for seedlings to be shipped,too soon for chicks and too soon to put even the seeds that like it cool into the soil.<br />
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So what is one to do? I try my best to sit on my hands,perfect my seed list streamlining it down to a manageable amount. I am going to say having triple the garden space with room to push out for more is making the sliming down of my seed list really,really hard. Especially since there are folks in town who will buy my surplus,a farmers market I could sell at and we could have a very full pantry next winter. Ahem,Rois remember to be realistic here,one acre of garden doesn't mean you have to use all of it this year.<br />
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And I am chick dreaming. That list was quick and easy-ish,I know I want all heavies that can take the cold and will lay farther into winter. I also know that by having them shipped to us we will very likely lose a few in transit and within a few weeks of having them.This time I can order more than I really want and it will come out about right in the end. <br />
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There is also our yearly Outdoor Tasks List to make. Chance and I like to make a list of outdoor projects we would like to get done some time between Spring and late Fall. Each project also lists what materials we may still need to get if any. We then make a very flexible timeline to get them done within.We have it flexible so we can see how much time or funds we have that week and if need be shuffle projects around.Sometimes we do have things that are more rigid,like we will need the new coop built before the chicks are ready to live in it. Over the growing season a majority of it gets done,some things we think better of or realize it was a big folly.<br />
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All of this business like things feed our enthusiasm for the garden and holds us over until we can really get busy outdoors. I always feel like I am still on task but not risking losing anything I may have foolishly planted. I need to be really mindful of this here,this climate is going to be a big learning curve and only fools rush in.<br />
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This year with us having moved we are starting all over.A task that feels a little huge at moments.Not only are we going to have to build our garden but we have to learn how to go about things here.Deer,frost,rabbits,heat,dryness all of which can all happen within a few hours of each other.<br />
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Ok I am going to side track here for just a moment.I am going to add coyote to that list above.Today I went to leave the house and right out my backdoor near my car was a large male coyote. I am assuming it was a male,kind of large and I wasn't about to say "Excuse Coyote,could you lift your leg or tail so I can see if you are a boy or a girl." I had to chuck a chunk of firewood at him to get him slowly moving.I was on my way out to go to town, before I left I checked on the hens.They were all roosting in the coop as high up as they could get and silent which leads me to believe the coyote was over by the chicken yard too. Now I , the not anti gun just don't want to personally know anything about them soul that I am is now thinking,maybe just maybe I should at least learn how to shoot the pellet gun. Sigh,at least I am too old to be drafted so don't have to worry about learning to shoot keeping me out of that kind of mess. But I am not sure I want to go that route.I think a slingshot and a bucket of rocks would be more my style.<br />
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So we are organizing ourselves here making lists,plans and maps of the land.Soon I will have plenty to write about that will most likely give me the feeling of deja vu since the beginnings of Hrafinstaad is how I came to be here blogging away.Now we are starting again,I am looking forward to seeing what becomes and how they compare to before.<br />
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One last thing before I go,a sad thing. Our old faithful forever by our sides dog Thora Gooddog passed away a few weeks ago. We had the feeling she was getting ready to leave us,she was pushing on 18 afterall and slowing in every way. Chance and I woke up one morning to find her coma like and her breathing slowing down.It was way to early to call the vet and an hour later she was gone.It was like she waited for us to get up so we could all say see ya later.We buried her on the backside of the property under some trees.Originally she was from this side of the mountains,so glad we could bring her home when her day to go came. She had a great dog life and we were lucky she found us.<br />
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Must be going but it's the time of year where lots of news is about to happen so I won't be long.<br />
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Rois <br />
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P.S Well it's one of those days.Went out to check on the hens a while ago only to spook off a hawk from the body of my favorite hen.Jerk.Roishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14960233101785516144noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44598359965018553.post-59049750389343269412014-12-03T20:17:00.000-08:002014-12-03T20:17:32.936-08:00Damn you to hell Blogger!Dang nabit! Blogger won't let me leave replies to my own blog, how ridiculous can things get?<br />
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So Alison here is my reply, <br />
Intend to be directionally dyslexic so videos that are kind of tricky topics ,origami,knitting and possibly weaving of any sort don't work well with my brain. But I may just have to ask a local friend who knits to teach me.<br />
And because I am somberly inspired by your Fox Paws and my girly side is feeling insulted by always being bundled up when out and about I have a plan to make a scarf/wrap for myself. Thinking faux fur for the inner layer and embellished wool for the outer. Form and function is always a must with me and hopefully it will be a balm on my wounded fashion sense. ( or should that be nonsense?)Roishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14960233101785516144noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44598359965018553.post-68138511417157286612014-12-03T10:33:00.003-08:002014-12-03T11:28:58.165-08:00What has been happening here you ask? Lots of learning and some merriment that's what.<br />
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Our snow storm ended up covering us with 3 feet of snow and a few mornings of -20 f. Lots of learning happened that week.<br />
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Lessons learned:<br />
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-20 f is a very rude temperature to wake up to. There is no way around it, the house is going to be cold. I did a search for cold weather tips, best one I found - fold your morning layers and socks and place them under the covers at the foot of your bed. Preheated layers make it a tiny bit easier to come out from under the blankets.<br />
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When you have to park down the road because you can't get your truck back to the house a sled is very handy. Especially when you go to the store to stock up and fill the back of the truck with food.<br />
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Last lesson learned, do your winter prep chores before there is even a slight chance it may turn cold. Chance had not finished insulating our water pipes so our bathroom pipes froze. And we also hadn't turned off the irrigation pipe to the garden. It froze and triggered the pump to shut off so for a short while there was no water to the house.That one was a quick fix thankfully.<br />
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By the week of Thanksgiving most of the snow was gone and the roads cleared. Which was a good thing because Issac came home bringing 3 friends with him. Our little house was full of so much happiness. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A pile of young peoples shoes by the door makes this Mama happy.</td></tr>
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This past Friday and Saturday were merry in town with lots going on to kick off the holidays. We popped into the shop where I work to hear our friend Becky play Hawaiian harp music, all of the shops stayed open late and everyone had plates of cookies and warm drinks. Also some shops are doing a Gingerbread House contest to raise money for Habitat for Humanity so those were fun to see.<br />
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Saturday was my handsome man's birthday. Mr Chance requested chocolate pie and a small gathering of friends. <br />
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We are back to a thin layer of snow with a slick of ice underneath so I am home today being cozy. I have a few things I am working on for house and myself so I may spend part of my day online looking for inspiration. <br />
Living here really makes me regret not taking my friend Alison up on knitting lessons. A warm cozy project that leads to more warm coziness sounds perfect. And Alison is currently working on this fabulous "Fox<a href="http://artisanry.blogspot.com/">"Fox paws"</a>shawl that I am overly envious of ,a thing that really is making me regretful.<br />
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I am still scouring the internet for ideas for the house and living in a smaller space. Some how my idea of small space and the internets don't always match up. 1200 sqft is not my idea of small. But I am gleaning ideas. I think my favorite place for inspiration right now is here,<a href="http://www.remodelista.com/">is here,</a>. Mostly out of my budget but I am crafty, thrifty and patient when it comes to getting what I want.<br />
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Since I am looking for a project to fill my time with I am curious what all of you are up to.Maybe it will inspire me.I need a something to take with me to work,it's the slow season so a portable project must happen soon.<br />
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Oh one last thing that happened that was full of goodness.Sol brought home the chair he had been building at school. He put a lot of work into and did a beautiful job. I am looking forward to lounging in it once the weather is warmer again..<br />
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Finally, has anyone else bought this book? I did just as we moved here,it's my current favorite.Next post I am going to write a review and share a recipe from it.<br />
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Although the day is my own to do as I please I do have things to do on my list so I shall close now.It's "chicken again" for dinner , I am hoping to dream or dig up a different way of making chicken for dinner yet again. <br />
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Best regards Rois<br />
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P.S, Is anyone getting sound on the video? If not here is a link <a href="http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rebeccahilarysmith">http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rebeccahilarysmith</a><br />
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Roishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14960233101785516144noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44598359965018553.post-33391162575217643112014-11-13T20:48:00.001-08:002014-11-13T20:48:54.610-08:00Hey did you notice? I changed things a bit.<br />
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The photo in my header is of my quiet corner in the house. It's in the dinning area by the big picture window so I can look out to think. <br />
Chance brought home the rocking chair as a surprise for me. I had seen in at our local Habitat for Humanity Restore, it creaks as I rock which I absolutely love. Chance's work was throwing out the furs so those came home to me as well.<br />
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On the window bench-sill- or whatever it would be called is my collection of friendly faces, wild treasures and green growing things. You can also spy the wooden bowl Sol turned for me recently at school, it holds an emu egg. I love that bowl and how it still smells of the oil he used to polish it with. And my favorite family picture taken at a street fair.It's much like a household shrine to me.<br />
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It's a great little spot, removed from the front room with the T.V,close enough to the wood stove and at the far end of the room is the kitchen. From here keeping an eye on bubbling pots and pans in the oven is easy.<br />
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RoisRoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14960233101785516144noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44598359965018553.post-40088070480905863642014-11-13T13:47:00.001-08:002014-11-13T13:47:24.244-08:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This was Sunday, Chance cut and I stacked. It was a lovely fall day, sunny with a cool wind. We cut and stacked plenty, we had heard on the news an Artic storm was coming our way later in the week.<br />
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This morning at 5:30 my phone rang, worried it was a family emergency I bolted out of bed. It was the school's automated system, there was to be a two hour delay due to snow. They call early because many kids here drive over an hour to reach school.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Front of the house</td></tr>
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Yup, it had snowed in the night. I guess Chance had gotten up in the night to add wood to the stove because he noticed the house was suddenly cooler.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the back half of the property.<br />
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About an hour and a half later another call came,SNOW DAY!!!!! Our school district only gets one snow day a year, if we go over school runs later into the summer.With this in mind the dristric is cautious about calling for a snow day but keeping kids safe is a top priority.<br />
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I am glad the day was called. It has not stopped snowing since I got up. We are inching our way towards a foot of snow.<br />
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Sol has merrily excepted the invitation from his school mates to go sledding. I encouraged him to bring everyone back here for warm drinks and snacks. I hope they come, we have always had kids in and out of our house, these past few months have been quiet. I miss the goofy chatter of kids especially on a snow day.<br />
Chance went to work this morning.I kind of wish I had gone with him.He works up towards the pass in the mountains at Suttle Lake, a gorgeous place that I would love to see covered in snow.<br />
I took a walk to really take in the beauty. I ended up down on our bridge that crosses our creek. The banks were filling in with ice with a blanket of snow. The water was swift with chunks of snow floating by, it made me a little dizzy looking over the edge.<br />
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I took a video with my phone but Blogger doesn't seem to want to let me upload it. I will try again later. OK Looks like I am just having tech issues with Blogger today.... sigh.<br />
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Our little house is so much more snug than our old one, something I very grateful for. I really dislike being out and out cold indoors. Our old house was just cold and damp all winter,I spent many months bundled up in many layers. Here though it's just right. Yes, I am wearing a base layer and a light sweater but it's a far cry from, base layer, another layer, thick sweater, scarf and hat- everyday not just snow days.<br />
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Yeah! The video loaded finally. There it is our icy creek, perfect for polar bears. Wanna come over for a dip? I will wait for you at the house ( half a mile away.), I'll have hot cocoa waiting and the wood stove crackling.<br />
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We have wintery weather for the next few days.I am ok with that I have no place to be that can't wait. So I will sit by the fire and watch the snow pile up.Roishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14960233101785516144noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44598359965018553.post-55987216424254364252014-10-24T19:54:00.001-07:002014-10-24T19:54:09.152-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I feel a little lame for restarting my blog and then rarely actually writing. My blog is supposed to be about homesteading but mostly what we have been up to is interior remodeling and weatherizing.Not very interesting news.So today I am going to share some thoughts which might tide us all over until something homestead-y comes along.<br />
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A few weeks ago I thought maybe there would not be any fall colors here like in the valley. We live surrounded by sage brush, evergreen trees and grasses. All of which pretty much stay green year round. But Mother Nature is always full of surprises.<br />
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Fall here is golden and full of textures. The light, Aspen trees and grasses have all turned to gold. The sage has even changed its coat, more silvery green with its branches turning darker. The Juniper and Ponderosa pines have kept their same colors but the slanted light of fall has changed the visual texture.<br />
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Up in the hills above us live the Vine Maples who have turned to flame red a surprise in the forest filled with ever greens. Pops of color for my color loving eyes. And a bit of a touch stone for me right now, I miss knowing the names and faces of the wild things. <br />
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Even farther up the hills to the mountains are the Three Sisters who daily have more new snow covering them, makes for a new breath taking view daily. Waking up to see those lovely ladies is a motivating way to start the day.<br />
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There is also a tale of one of the best parts of Fall for us, Mushroom Hunting. It's a good one, not epic like last years haul of magnitude but a good one.<br />
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Chance and I this past weekend went up to the hills to hunt for the mushrooms that are just starting to pop up. Our friends had been the day before and gave us directions to where they had been. We were to turn at a sign for a snow park, we did find a sign for the snow park just not the right one. The one we found was the trail for snowmobiles, it was clear enough to start but then things got a little interesting. We came to a large hump,I asked Chance if we should look over the hump before going up and over.Nah, we will be fine... Well on the downside of the hump was a 30 foot almost vertical drop.And ahead another hump with boulders. This time we got out to look.The road ahead was rougher than we wanted to take so turning around needed to happen.<br />
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We were literally in a tight spot that I wasn't too sure about. All of my life I have traveled the back wild roads and for the very first time I found myself calculating how far from town we were and if we could walk back by dark. After an 8 point turn Chance got the truck facing back where we came from.<br />
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Chance put the truck into low 4 and said he could make it back up.Sure thing babe, as for me I will walk to the top and wait. A punch to the gas and Chance was safely up and over. We got back on the main road,eventually mostly found the area we were meant to be in. We got out to scout around in likely spots with no luck. At few of the stops we would get faint whiffs of mushroom but the second you tried to pin point where it might be coming from the scent would be gone.<br />
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When we connected with our friends that night they reassured us the mushrooms were barely starting to show and they had found few. We also stopped in the local Forest rangers station in town to get a better map of the area. The lady ranger even gave us a mushroom map, local areas known to have mushrooms.<br />
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Yeah we came home empty handed but it was a beautiful day spent roaming the woods, we were happy and came home with a funny story about getting stuck. It has been raining here this week and a bit warmer at night, two things that make mushrooms happy. We hope to go back up within the next week.Which can happen even after work,15 minutes and there you are in the woods.<br />
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Hopefully this was more interesting than hearing about drywall, sanding and putting up siding. We have been cutting wood for the stove. I love watching Chance cut wood so if I can get some good photos next time we cut I will be sure to figure out a post about firewood. And maybe include a bit about my love affair with the wood stove here, love that little thing...<br />
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Lynda, thank you so much for all of your comments.They nudged me into writing and hopefully from now on I will be better about coming here.<br />
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Best Regards<br />
Rois<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking down onto Three Creek Lake, our favorite spot.</td></tr>
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Roishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14960233101785516144noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44598359965018553.post-27084615632345163452014-09-02T20:24:00.000-07:002014-09-02T20:24:22.802-07:00List of things.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Here is my list of things figured out since moving here:<br />
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1. Bugs can be big and intimidating. And before one freaks out over them just ask the five year old who used to live in your house about them, frank answers are always shared.<br />
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Like these two, totally harmless yet big.<br />
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2.Things dry out super fast here. It seems like I take a daily bath in lotion and still my skin is dry.And food dries out fast as well,I am now searching for some containers that will work for us to store things in. Laundry is super to do,45 minutes on the line if it's hot and maybe 2 hours if just breezy until things are dry. You want fast drying laundry but that batch of cookies you just baked not so much.<br />
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3. People in town are nice and helpful in a genuine way.And since town is small you had better be nice right back because everyone here knows someone who knows you. For example the lady we met while fishing 20 miles from home, she knows our long time friends here and all ready knew all about us moving over here. We weren't even in town!<br />
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4. Deer are cute in a Bambi kind of way but it's all a front.The deer stomp dogs here all the time, even ones being politely walked on leash. <br />
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5. It is really easy to find any old excuse to play hookie from house chores here. When there are majestic mountains out every window in your house it's hard not to hear them calling. And drive 20 minutes in any direction and you are at a lake. We are doing our best to balance work and play but still use plenty of the warm weather while we can.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Even the drive to the grocery store has views.</td></tr>
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6.Planning ahead is important. There isn't an Ikea or even an Asian grocery here so when in Portland you had better have a list ready for shopping otherwise you are outta luck. Yes, Ikea does ship but when I did do that the shipping was almost as much as what I bought. And if you are having something shipped plan ahead so it arrives on time. ( Also so far FedEx can't always find our house so add in that delay.)<br />
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7. Mention Ocean Rolls from the farmers market to anyone in town and a blissful smile breaks out on their face.It's a good thing the market is only on Fridays and I haven't found the bakery in Bend yet, otherwise I would be as big as those mountains.<br />
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8. It's windy here often, great for laundry, keeping the house cool, most likely contributing to my dry skin, blows things an acre or more away if not weighted down and is the best lullaby.<br />
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Rois<br />
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Roishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14960233101785516144noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44598359965018553.post-67504219606372714082014-08-28T20:54:00.000-07:002014-08-28T20:54:32.591-07:00Almost September? Wow, I haven't been back here in a few weeks,what have we been up to?<br />
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Well..we had a freak flash flood here right after my last post. I was home alone painting cupboards and thinking how I was glad our little dog seemed to be used to the sound of rain and hail on our metal snow roof when things took a turn towards chaos.<br />
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Mellow rain and tiny hail turned to pouring rain and grape sized hail with huge clacks of thunder and lighting.Then all of a sudden little dog was not too happy and pacing the bathroom floor. I went in to pick her up to reassure her everything was fine but she had a good reason for being upset.There was water bubbling up in the bathroom sink,not over flowing and when you live in the desert and the rain is pounding down I suppose it has to go somewhere?<br />
I returned to the kitchen/dining room greeted by a big splat of water on the head and wet feet.Water was coming in from floor and ceiling. Ok,grab some towels and pots to hold it all back.<br />
Then again little dog is pacing in the bathroom this time by the laundry room door.Open the door to three inches of water ,grab the new vacuum before it gets any wetter and pray the water will go down the drain in the floor when the rain stops.<br />
Call Chance at work,he's stuck there for a while longer,they had a full house.Well get here ASAP would you? I mean come on if things keep up I don't know what I am going to do I am out of towels and pots or bowls.<br />
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Meanwhile it's 45 minutes later and the storm is still pounding.Phone rings,it's my Mom ,I tell her the tale of water coming in. Honestly all one can do is laugh at this point,comedy is just the way to go when things get tough. I walk into our room to squish between the toes,Ummm Mom? I need to go,I will call you back. Three inches of water in our room too! Thank goodness it's a concrete floor and we have a door that opens to the out doors.<br />
So I grabbed the mop,opened the door and started to push the water out the door. Chance is finally home! We move the furniture out of our room and finish shoving the water out.<br />
By that time the rain and hail had stopped,the water in the laundry room had gone down on its own and my huge claw foot tub was now full of wet soggy bedding and towels.<br />
Once we caught our breath we looked out side to see about 3 inches of hail on the ground and hovering above it an eerie blanket of thick fog. We can hear heavy equipment sounds coming from our neighbors behind us who live in a bit of a gully,that's not good.And we could hear their cow bellowing like it was not too happy about its evening being so rudely interrupted.<br />
Our hens fared just fine. Although I will admit there was no way in hell I was going out to make sure they had put themselves in.Their temporary coop is made from tin and there was lighting going on,survival of the fittest was what I was all about at the time.<br />
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Nothing was lost,the vacuum dried out just fine and I spent a couple of days doing laundry.All over the property though you can still see storm damage.Our gravel road is now pretty rough in spots but Chance is going to have time soon to see if he can rake the spots out to make them at least a bit better.<br />
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Other than that it's been lots of company coming to visit.It's been fun showing our friends and family some of the places we have already found that we like.And I am trying to save the goodness of having a houseful of people because soon there will be snow and no one will want to come over the pass to see us until Spring.<br />
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The flood did totally change our schedule for projects. Obviously we are now focused on making sure outdoor projects are done before the weather changes. The landlord is working with us to get the roof repaired so it won't leak again. We have wood to cut and stack,a very important task when you heat with wood. The storm was a freak thing and not likely to happen again soon but we want to make sure the house is weather tight once again.Having sat empty for over a year it needs some loving. <br />
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I am finally feeling settled in and back to baking and have done some small canning . Chance has been busy doing lots of different lacto- fermentation,pickles, <a href="http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/2011/05/making-vinegar-old-way.html">pineapple vinegar</a> and sour corn (made like sauerkraut but with corn).<br />
I must admit we both did a small little dance when we noticed the vinegar had grown a Mother,which is that weird looking blob you see in some vinegar or kambucha. We will be able to save it and use to make future batches of vinegar.<br />
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There's some foraging for wild edibles on our radar,meat curing and stringing green beans to make leather strap beans.<br />
We have been watching a show called "<a href="http://www.pbs.org/food/features/the-mind-of-a-chef-season-2-episode-descriptions/">The mind of a chef" season </a>2, a PBS program<br />
about cooking and some of the science behind it. We were indifferent to the first season but season 2 has a chef named Sean Brock that we are really learning some interesting things from. Mr Brock has certainly put a spark back into our lust for getting back to basics,canning and preserving.<br />
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Still not a lot of homestead type projects going yet but now that we feel more settled that is about to change.I really am excited about what we will come up with here in this new place and environment.<br />
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Next week young Sol will start school,he's returning to public school to finish up high school.He's looking forward to meeting the local kids and being a part of the <a href="http://www.sisterscountry.com/americana-project">Americana Project</a> at school.<br />
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Has the light changed at your house? It has here,looking more like fall light all of a sudden.And the birds have changed who is here now.My most favorite surprise birds are the Magpies, I love them and have never really gotten to see them being their noisy selves so closely before. What are the wild things up to at your house?<br />
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Until next time<br />
Rois<br />
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P.S Did I tell all of you? We have a room mate,he's a fairly quiet fellow who mostly keeps to himself and very handsome.<br />
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<br />Roishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14960233101785516144noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44598359965018553.post-61814628880843290872014-07-30T09:08:00.002-07:002014-07-30T09:08:37.570-07:00D.I.Y Screen door. This past weekend Chance built us a new screen door. We had been searching for a recycled one at the local Habitat Restore with no luck.The big box stores didn't have any that were what we wanted to spend.Also being us we wanted form and function, something you don't find at a mega store.<br />
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We are surrounded by livestock,a fact that no matter how clean a farm is kept you are going to end up with flies. Our little house has amazing cross breezes that really help keep the house cool.The windows are screened but without a screen door the flies were coming in on a swarm level. Icky, yeah they just fly but no one wants to think about flies and what their purpose is.<br />
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Chance and I went to the hardware/lumber store and purchased a large sheet of outdoor grade plywood and some metal screen they sell by the foot, this came to about $35. Next we went around to the Restore and found all of the hardware we needed.We lucked out that day was a 50% off everything day so the total came to a whopping $4.<br />
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Chance used our grove of Quaking Aspen trees for his inspiration, his first step was drawing and cutting out of paper a large leaf to use as a stencil.<br />
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Once the leaves were stenciled on he took the drill and drilled a hole along the line of the stencil, this was the starting point for doing the cutting. Next he used his jigsaw and cut out both leaves.<br />
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We then cut pieces of the window screening that were large enough to cover the cut outs, leaving a few inches all around the cut outs.Chance then stapled the screen down to the wood. Once this was done using a pair of scissors I cut away the extra screen, leaving about an inch of screen beyond the line of staples.</div>
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The photo above is one of the leaves, while Chance was doing some sanding I started to dream up a way to use the cut outs.They are nifty little treasures and have been set aside until we can think of a place or use for them.<br />
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Our house is owner built and has over the years done some settling, nothing worrisome just a fact of houses we sometimes forget. While Chance was working on hanging the screen door the settling of the house became apparent quickly, it took some more sanding to get the door to fit and hang properly. This extra fiddling around made us happy that we hadn't bought a ready made door,espicially if it had been a metal one, it probably wouldn't have fit.<br />
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Extra fiddling done and a couple of coats of linseed oil the door was finished. It only took a couple of hours to do which is a lot less time than it took our old dog Thora to figure out which side opens. Happily, the door is too heavy for the dogs to push open but since it opens from a different direction than the door old dog had to learn something new.<br />
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If you look closely at the photo you can see how the linseed oil really brought out the grain in the wood. There was no way to plan that out but we were very happy that the lines of the grain just happened to add a layer of organic lines to our new door.</div>
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I wish my camera would take a photo at night. We have under lit the eves with little string lights and if at night the door is open between the string lights and the screen door cut outs it's lovely with a soft glow of warmth and homey-ness.</div>
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We came in under budget so with the extra money I am watching on EBay for a just right push plate for the inner side of the door. A push plate is the metal plate you see on doors that push open, they keep the wood clean from finger prints ect. I had no idea those plates had a name until this project and then last night I found out in the UK they are called finger plates.Anyway random trivia ....So I am searching for a vintage push plate something artsy or interesting to add another interest point to the door. I will be sure to post when I find the one that is just right.</div>
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The only other news I have is I went Huckleberry picking with my friend and her kids. The season is just starting,I came home with about 2 1/2 cups of berries. I am sitting on the fence between freezing them with the hopes of picking more so I can make jam or maybe just bake something with what I have.</div>
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Speaking of canning, the local natural food store here,a place I love BTW, offers canning boxes of produce at a reduced price.When I was in the store the other day the list was up for what is available. I will have to wait until Friday to place my order since the owner is in charge of these boxes and is gone until then. I am excited about this service, I was wondering about u-picks and farms to get canning items from. At least for this year this will be the way to go, our feet will be more firmly planted next year along with our own garden.</div>
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Today is all about books and learning.We are taking Sol to enroll for school and later I am finally going to go get a library card.</div>
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Roishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14960233101785516144noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44598359965018553.post-65627964813272108842014-07-22T14:56:00.000-07:002014-07-22T14:56:09.598-07:00Moving away thoughts for Stacysix.Stacysix left me a comment for my last posting,she asked me if I missed Portland and my friends there.<br />
The city and friends is something Chance and I talked a lot about before we made our choice to leave.<br />
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We both realized that by staying there were many important things to us that we would have give up because of the housing market in Portland. Finding housing with a yard and a garage was slim chances. We would also have to give up full time homesteading life.<br />
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We could have given up a yard fairly easily.Many friends offered if we ended up close to them places to garden so we could still grow our own food.We had been thinking about taking a break from having hens so they could have been re-homed.<br />
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But the no garage was not a choice we could make.Chance uses so many of his tools either for work at his job or for side jobs,we would loose income.Replacing a life times collection of tools would be hard to do and expensive.<br />
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There were also the scooters.Yes,a luxury to some degree but Chance had been riding his full time for transportation.Leaving scooters parked on the street,in a driveway or a parking lot is a high risk to theft.<br />
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As far as the city itself went,take it or leave it. We are not consumer type people so much of the city we didn't even use. Eating out is not a big deal to us so that we wouldn't miss.We can watch for special events we may want to go to and plan to come up for them.<br />
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When it came down to our friends that had and still has it's moments. Yes,we have friends but we didn't live in each others pockets so seeing them sporadically was the norm. We are only a little under 3 hours from Portland,that's an easy enough hop over to see people. There were moments before we left that where tough but we knew by making this choice we were keeping on the path we had set ourselves on. We may be off grid but we still have phones and the internet to stay connected too.<br />
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We also made a deal with ourselves and each other,once a month we would come up to Portland. Just so we could keep relationships with people going and that way if we were really missing something we could get a fix of whatever it may be.<br />
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So far for me the most frustrating thing has been not knowing where anything is in Bend.I had lived in Portland my whole life,the city is mapped on an easy to follow grid unlike Bend. I now do know where some places I will use are and when I look up an address I can kind of tell which end of town and which side of the highway it is,sort of,maybe....sigh. I will get it! I said to Chance "If Debbie and her family can move to Hong Kong I can do this!" Good thing I love maps.<br />
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We do have our close friends here so we are not totally alone.They have been very helpful when we have had questions.And the people in Sisters are a friendly community,all you have to do is say hello and then ask for their help and they are willing if able.It is funny though,Sisters is small,everyone at least knows you by face, I have lost count of how many times we've been asked "are you guys new in town?" It's never said rudely but with curiosity,so far people have been welcoming. I don't know,it could be our love of head to black clothing that gives us away,what do you think?<br />
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The hardest part to leaving though was leaving Issac.Yes,he made the choice to stay in Portland to move towards his own adventures but I still really struggle with him newly out on his own just as we move across the state. He's doing great and calls weekly which helps but I still miss his face and smile.<br />
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I hope this answers your question Stacysix. It's a mixed box for sure but so far so good with no need to spit any chocolates out.<br />
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Ok next post I will have figured out our new computer so I can post pictures.This dang thing is just different enough and I still have things to load onto it that my eyes are poppping out over it.Until then imagine waking up to the wind in the trees and a view of a magnificent mountain range right out your window.<br />
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Rois<br />
Roishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14960233101785516144noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44598359965018553.post-68020221536390765532014-07-20T17:04:00.001-07:002014-07-20T17:04:19.389-07:00Sideways and then straight,kind of like a country road.Well Dear readers I am going to give this a go,let's see where it goes from here.<br />
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The past year plus some was one that tested us to the point of feeling like the Universe had deemed us unfit or some such thing.I was unemployed,my Father has become crazy in a heart breaking fashion from dementia and just one thing after another.The worst was the loss of our boys' friend whom had been a part of our family since our boys were very young.And then you are told by your landlord you need to move. It was one of those years you cry "Why me? What have I done?" and all of your friends reassure you they have had years like it before and you come out stronger for it,usually with something much better.<br />
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Somewhere in there I did manage to full fill my dream of going to school to become a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner which was a financial struggle but the whole family pulled together and I am now almost finished with the program. I am sure I will blog more about this later.<br />
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Then one day it was all over and our friends were right, out of the storm good things can come.A text message was the tipping point back towards good things to come. <br />
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We were trying to figure out where we wanted to move to,the housing market in the Portland area is tight so finding a good match was looking like a needle in a haystack. Then one morning I woke up to a text from our dear friend Jen in Sisters. Long time readers may remember me writing about visiting her and her family. She had a thought just as she was falling asleep- we could move to Sisters and live in the Hacienda,their former house! She went on to mention the fabulous early American music project at the local high school for our young Sol. I could work for her in her earring shop while I finish school and get myself going and since Chance has so many excellent work skills and there is a lack of skilled workers finding a job for him should work out quickly.<br />
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Now I am going to be honest here,I wanted to text back right away and say YES!!!! YES!!! because we have always wanted to live in Sisters ,we love the house and the land it sits on but I calmed down and Googled the <a href="http://www.sisterscountry.com/americana-project">school program</a> for Sol,if we couldn't sell him on it,it wasn't going to work. Then I called Chance at work. We both thought and talked it through for a few days and then approached Sol.It was an easy sell,he loves it in Sisters and the idea of all the things the school has to offer was inspiring to him.<br />
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Then the work of moving across state began,we downsized our stuff because we wanted to,we sold some things,Chance left his job a few weeks early to make logistics of moving work-many trips back and forth needed to happen before the big move and then we began to say to friends not good bye but see you soon.<br />
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We also left Issac behind in Portland,being 20 he was ready to be out on his own. we knew this was coming,he'd been talking about it but it was weird to be the ones moving away just as your son is flying from the nest.<br />
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On June 19th 2014 we moved onto 97 acres,2 miles out of town up a dirt road. We have a 900 square foot house with two bedrooms,the only utility we have on grid is power,wood heat,propane for hot water and a well for water.Since we are not on a sewer line we have a very modern looking composting toilet and all water from the house drains into drain fields..We also have use of the 30 foot greenhouse and our fenced in garden area is about an acre of land.We were able to bring our hens with us,their yard is about 1/4 of an acre.We share the property with Emile who is the father of our friend,he lives in a gorgeous A Frame he built himself that is across from our house about 400 yards away.<br />
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We have repairs to do on the house since it sat for a year and a half empty. We got here too late to garden this year but since the garden needed overhauling it gives us more time to have things more in place for Spring.<br />
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As of today we are moved in and some work has been done. All three of us are working and so far enjoying the adventure of living someplace very new to us.<br />
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Now we begin relearning things! Prepare yourselves to laugh at us,cry with us and be inspired by the beauty of this place. Gardening here is a totally different thing -the weather keeps you guessing a lot. Living off grid will have its learning curve I am sure- we already ran out of propane once and wondered what was up with the hot water heater for a few minutes.Living along side wild critters that aren't just the skunks we had at our old house will be interesting too- I no longer scream at big spiders,bugs are bigger here and you just become immune to their presence.<br />
Next time I will have photos to share.Not of the spiders but of the house and land. I am not sure how much homesteading news I will have right away but we will just have to wait to see what comes up.<br />
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Until next time<br />
RoisRoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14960233101785516144noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44598359965018553.post-48724136813312751582014-07-19T21:12:00.000-07:002014-07-19T21:12:55.554-07:00Hello? So I know it has been a terribly long time since I blogged but life went sideways.<br />
But I am curious if anyone is still out there and if anyone would like to read along as we learn how to live mostly off grid in Central Oregon?Roishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14960233101785516144noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44598359965018553.post-5293409224024859352013-02-16T08:39:00.002-08:002013-02-16T08:39:52.240-08:00Taking a blog break.After some long thinking I am taking a break from my blog writing.I really enjoy writing and sharing what we are up to but there is one dream I had for this blog that has yet to come about.I had hoped that there would be more conversation going on in the comments section.I wasn't looking for compliments,I was looking for conversation and in put. Sharing thoughts,ideas and all of the rest of the good the bad and the ugly that can happen when you are working on living a more sustainable lifestyle.<br />
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What really put me to thinking about a break is a matter of personal principal that I am a bit rigid on sometimes to a fault.But it is part of who I am at my core and in my mind a point of being a decent human being.I can not make myself sway a different direction on this one.<br />
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A while back Green Man sent me the <a href="http://hrafinstaad.blogspot.com/2013/01/liebster-award-from-green-man.html">Liebster Award </a>and requested me to follow along.I was totally honest and stated that this was really not my cup of tea but would play along in a way that I was comfortable with.I was open about this point,I wrote the blog post and made sure to thank him for the award.This is getting to the point of me not being able to let go of my principal.I never heard one word in reply from Green Man.<br />
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In my mind when you do something for someone else a thank you should be given.Just a plain and simple thank you.I would think that we all learned that one even before we all got to kindergarten.We are all working on building better lives through living a more green way but the planet can not be a better place if people do not show each other a bit of grace.<br />
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Part of me thinks that I owe an apology for throwing Green Man out on the mat in such a public way but part of me thinks not.So all I am going to say about that is what comes around goes around for both of us.<br />
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One of my goals for this year is to spend less time talking and more time doing.Meaning-<br />
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Spending less time on the computer wasting time I could be doing something that adds value to my life.<br />
Not waiting to do something later when I have the time now.<br />
And finally, talking less about getting together with friends but actually getting together with them.<br />
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All of these points really tie into why I am taking a blog break for me.I am finding the computer to be a mind and time sucking vortex that is keeping me at times from using my time to do more of the things I love.I also want to be working on the friendships in my life by actually spending face to face time with the people I enjoy.Social media,email,text messaging and even this blog to a point are all becoming a bit fake to me.<br />
Yes, everyone is keeping up with each other on a minute to minute bases but no one is stopping to enjoy each other's company.It's like the human connections are fading away from our lives.Isn't community about coming together? I am still working all of this out in my head and by taking a break from here I think I will get that done quicker.I do know that I want to fill my life with things I love and love doing,hopefully a break will answer my question "Do I still enjoy blogging?".<br />
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One last time I am going to invite all of you to add your thoughts in the comments,let's see where they take us.<br />
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RoisRoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14960233101785516144noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44598359965018553.post-51302770144178055152013-01-25T13:11:00.002-08:002013-01-25T13:11:48.176-08:00Pete I love you man.So I totally do not like that show "Portlandia". It makes me crazy! But when your favorite chicken guy Pete is on ya gotta watch.<br />
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Everyone let me introduce you to Pete our chicken guy,he's just being his open honest and frank self here.Even when talking about chicken butts.<br />
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Watch the video,I learned something new from it and so should you.<br />
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RoisRoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14960233101785516144noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44598359965018553.post-47925871210134629602013-01-24T16:22:00.001-08:002013-01-24T16:22:18.959-08:00Down with the 'flu.I am down with the 'flu so until I am back here's a little something to enjoy.<br />
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RoisRoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14960233101785516144noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44598359965018553.post-2353794479358050982013-01-19T16:26:00.002-08:002013-01-19T16:26:49.073-08:00Liebster Award from Green Man<img src="https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRqtrbIRNaPA9k7xmBUUSXjSMcO76Pk_fbQYwDD_92QmFYP4HzWwA" /><br />
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Today I received a Liebster Award from Green Man who follows my blog.I was unfamiliar with this award but here is what I read about it-<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">For those bloggers and readers who are unfamiliar with this award, “The Liebster Award" is given to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 </span><a href="http://spiritstitch.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-liebster.html#" id="_GPLITA_0" in_rurl="http://i.trkjmp.com/click?v=VVM6MzEwMDQ6NDpmb2xsb3dlcnM6NDAxYjUzZGY2ODUyYWFhYTgwYjJmZmEyZWE0YjIyMzc6ei0xMDYzLTE1MjI2OTk5NDpzcGlyaXRzdGl0Y2guYmxvZ3Nwb3QuY29tOjI4MjM4OjBiOTc2ZjUwNjdlNTgwMmQxM2UwMzUzNjc4Yzk0MTgx" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: initial;" title="Click to Continue > by Browse to Save">followers</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">. The word ” Liebster” comes from German and can mean the sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, most beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome.”</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Thank you Green Man for your kindness.As a blogger with a quiet comment box I appreciate your thought.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">And it looks like these are the rules to the award-</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"> </span></span></span><strong style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Here are the Rules for this Award</strong><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Thank the person who nominated you.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: #222222;">When you receive the award, you post 11 random facts about yourself and</span><a href="http://greenmanchronicles.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-liebster.html"><span style="color: blue;"> answer</span></a><span style="color: #222222;"> the 11 questions asked by the person who nominated you.</span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Pass the award onto 6 other blogs (while making sure you notify the blogger that you nominated them!) You write up 11 NEW questions directed towards YOUR nominees. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">You are not allowed to nominate the blog who nominated your own blog!</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">You paste the award picture into your blog. (You can Google the image, there are plenty of them!)</span><div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">I am not a very good follower or one to pass chain letters on But for this post I will go so far as to try to think of 11 random things about myself and to answer Green Man's questions.I am being honest here, I may never get around to passing this forward.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">11 Random things about me:</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">1. I am highly competitive.Especially when it comes to boys/men.I can not stand the thought of them out doing me in any way.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">2.I LOVE Kung Fu movies.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">3. I am getting ready to build a moped for racing.It's that "can't let a boy beat me" thing again.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">4.I always root for the underdog.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">5.If I could eat mangoes and sticky rice everyday I would be very happy.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">6.I don't like bodies of water I can't see to the bottom of.I am sure there are sea monsters under there.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">7.I have been teaching myself how to fiddle.Move over Sherlock.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">8.I am happiest when I am outdoors.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">9.Once upon a time I wanted to be a Midwife.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">10.I love my freckles.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">11.I still have not given up the dream of living in a yurt.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Green Man's questions for me-</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">1. What inspires you to blog?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"> When I started to blog there not many blogs out there sharing the information I do through my blog.So I figured why not do it myself,there had to be others out there somewhere searching like I was.Some posts are inspired by what I read all over the place,a project we have done or just me being random.</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">2. What advice would you give to other bloggers?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"> Just keep at it if it is something you enjoy.Make it your own and use your own writing voice.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br style="background-color: white;" /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">3. What is your favorite book?</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"> My favorite book is Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock. I have read it once a year since I was 17.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br style="background-color: white;" /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">4. If you won a million dollars what would you do with it?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> Buy 5 acres,go to school again,encourage Chance to find something he loves for work and travel.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">5. If you could, would you go back to school and for what?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"> I am currently working on going back to school to become a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">6. What did you want to grow up to be when you were a kid?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"> A dump truck driver.</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">7. Have you ever traveled outside of your country of origin?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"> Nope.But we are working on getting Italy and Vietnam.</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">8. What is your favorite thing to make?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> Food and art,they both give me endless joy.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;" /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">9. If you do magic, what kind do you use most often?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"> Dear Green Man, as a person who lived in South East Asia you should know that magic is not spoken of with strangers.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> I love the whole process but the sore back part.I love feeling more connected to the Earth and our food.Working in the garden is like going to a temple for me,it can be peace and solitude for me.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> If we all simply showed others and the Earth love,kindness and acceptance everything would work out for the better.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Alright when I previewed this post there is something up with the font sizes.Being a bit dim when it comes to fixing things please just flow with me here.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">I have a whole other post that will be coming in the next day or so.This past week has been productive here so there are things to share.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Rois</span></div>
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Roishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14960233101785516144noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44598359965018553.post-38433523422378070492013-01-06T13:01:00.001-08:002013-01-06T17:51:07.754-08:00Garden Soil overhaul step 1.<br />
Yesterday Chance and I picked up 6 bags of compost to get a start on overhauling the soil of our back garden.We also picked up 2- 20 pound bags of agricultural lime to mix in.<br />
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Here in Oregon it rains a lot, which can be an understatement to say the least. The rains leech out many minerals that are vital for healthy soil and vigorous gardens.Plants need both calcium and magnesium to be healthy.One of the best ways to fix this problem is to use agricultural lime.This kind of lime is usually a 50/50 mix of calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate.Pretty handy stuff,no mixing and figuring just spread it on.<br />
There are various ratios for how much lime to use for how many square feet but Chance simply sprinkled a thick-ish layer all over so it was fairly even.He used half of one of the 20 pound bags over our big back garden and on some of our front garden beds.This seemed like a semi-educated guess to him.<br />
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If you live in the Willamette Valley like we do you may have problems with having too much clay in your soil as well. You can't live in an area that was once a giant lake and not have clay. This is where the importance of compost comes in.The compost will break up the clay in the soil and will slowly release the nutrients it holds into the soil.The compost also helps the soil retain water,makes it easier to dig and invites beneficial soil critters to move in and thrive.<br />
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This morning Chance laid out a 2 inch layer of compost over the lime on the back garden.He only got half way before he ran out but we still have time to finish.<br />
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This is only the first step in our soil overhaul.We will finish the layer of compost and then add a layer of new garden soil we will have dropped here.All of this will get mix together using a rented rototiller.<br />
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When plants are getting the nutrients they need to be happy and healthy they will actually pass on that good nutrition to you when you eat them.There is that circle of life thing in a not often thought of way-healthy soil,healthy plants leading to healthier you.I wonder if this point is also why homegrown veggies and fruits just taste so much better? Actually I think it may true because when you pick your veggies from out your backdoor they are at their peak of freshness.That freshness starts to fade the longer the time is from picking to eating.And if I remember right the nutrients start to fade too.<br />
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This past week I also looked around online to find out when the nurseries might have strawberry plants in.My Grandparents raised strawberries so I knew it was early in the Spring or very late Winter.I have chosen two varieties.I have chosen the Tri-Star's because they are "ever" bearing meaning we will get two crops and are great for jam.My second choice are the Rainier's,they produce only one crop but are also known for being excellent for making jam.Both will be available late March early February. I will call the nursery closer to that time to be sure of when they will be in.One year Chance and I were a week late on getting some onion sets we wanted badly,I don't want to miss out on berries!<br />
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Having a clearer idea of time will help us to know where exactly we need to put the building of the boxes on our "To Do " list. We will need to build and fill two raised beds for the berries,we would like to have one bed of each kind.I will be making a list of early planting seeds *** timed for this too.I am hoping we will make a small road trip an hour south to Albany to visit the <a href="https://www.nicholsgardennursery.com/store/index.php">Nichol's</a> nursery,if we are going that far I might as well make a list for some one trip shopping.Yeah! A road trip to buy plants and seeds.Oh and one of our favorite coffee shops is right across the highway.Wow,that sure is going to suck..just kidding.<br />
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When I was looking at seeds online I came across a book that is coming out in March.<br />
<a href="http://www.powells.com/biblio/9781616200466">"The Drunken Botanist"</a>written by Amy Stewart. I am going to be sure to check it out once it hits the stores.It might be fun to add in some plants and try some of her recipes.<br />
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We have been seeing that Spring chicks will be in soon at the local farm stores! We will be getting some of our own for sure.And Chance and I are working on timing a Chicken Butchering class for when some of those chicks will be of butchering age.We will keep all of you posted.<br />
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I would really love to hear what all of my readers are thinking about this time of year,have your input and feed back.It really does keep me motivated and I end up learning new things or meeting new friends.<br />
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Rois<br />
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*** After I posted this Chance and I were talking about seed needs for the coming year.We both realized that if we don't buy all of our seed in the early Spring there may be none to be had later for winter plantings.In the past we have not had enough seed to really see us through the winter months.Looks like that is trip to Nichol's is going to be a bigger shopping trip than I first thought.<br />
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<br />Roishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14960233101785516144noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44598359965018553.post-54684340966826640892013-01-02T08:10:00.000-08:002013-01-02T08:30:49.424-08:002013 Homestead planning.Happy New Year everyone! So far I am thinking 2013 is going to be a good year,if today is what the rest of the year will be like things will be great.The sun was out all day, had a mellow busy day at home with Chance and the house smells good with cooking food. Nice way to start the year I think.<br />
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Today Chance and I sat down to make out our yearly project lists.One list for indoors and one for outdoors.Then everything laid out by month so things get done at the right time of year.Timing is everything when you are planning a garden.<br />
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Everything on our indoor list is all about painting and replacing the bathroom window.A small list of things that will be left until summer to do, when we are just waiting around of the garden to grow.But not our bedroom,that will be sooner because this girl is super excited to revamp our room floor to ceiling!<br />
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The outdoor list is longer and will most likely take most of the growing season to do.<br />
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We realized at the end of the growing season this past fall that some of our fruit was on its last leg.We planted one of our rows of Raspberries when we first moved here 13 years ago and they have not produced well the past two.We checked in one of our gardening books and it said <a href="http://www.fallcreeknursery.com/nursery/two_column/cane_berry_primer">cane berries</a> are only good for ten years,so we are a couple of years over due for new canes.That row of raspberries is also in a now awkward spot because of the coop run layout we can not easily get to the berries on the back side of the row.And having the berries there eats up about 10 feet of garden space.So we have planned for new canes and to move the bed to an already built bed in the front yard.(Hopefully there will be no more thieving of our fruit this year.)<br />
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Our strawberries are also needing to be replaced.They have a life span of about 3 years and that bed has been over run with grass.Since strawberries are heavy feeders it is a good idea to move them to a new location so we don't have any soil issues in the future.We plan to split the bed into two low raised beds,set about four feet back from where the old bed is.By raising the beds we will hopefully not have the grass issue anymore.<br />
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The berry beds will be built and filled by March so once the plants are available we are set to plant.<br />
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In the same area we are planting the strawberries we will build two other beds as well.One will be for peas and the other for lettuces.By the time the lettuces are done due to heat it will be time to plant onions in that bed.<br />
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The big back garden needs a total soil overhaul,badly.We are planning on dumping on some thick layers of compost and mulch that will get tilled into the soil.The garden will also get a heavy handed dose of Steve Solomon's<a href="http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/2006-06-01/A-Better-Way-to-Fertilize-Your-Garden.aspx?page=5"> fertilizer mix</a> that we mix our selves. *** I think that only links to the page with the fertilizer mix "recipe" but the whole article is well worth reading if you are not familiar with Steve Solomon.*** This will happen in the next few weeks.We want to get things set in place so the soil can settle in once again before we plant come March.<br />
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Besides reworking the garden areas we have an old ratty tatty apple tree that will come down, a shed to dismantle,a gate to rebuild and the moving of some bamboo as well.None of those are time sensitive so we will just do them as we have time for them.<br />
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As Chance and I were looking over our project list and looking at planting times we realized we have some work to get done over the next 2-3 months. We've been gardening for a long time now,13 of them here.Over time we have gotten down planting times pretty well.That is if the weather at least semi cooperates with us.Timing of projects is important if everything is going to be in place at the right moment.<br />
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A thing I started awhile ago to help us keep on track is a garden/farm practice of keeping a log book just for homesteading things.I keep track of seeds,individual chicks,when we planted trees and resources we have used.Each thing has notes about it such as- did not like,very good, bad layer,where we purchased or with whom we traded for ect. I also list phone numbers for the different farms we have used for u-pick.This book is really helpful when I am thinking of what to plant and if we need new hens which kind we have liked best.<br />
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The final thing we like about sitting down and planning out the years projects is we can start to budget for them.To help with the budget we check prices for things we will need and write the estimated costs next to the project on the list.We then know how much to aim for,maybe allow for wiggle room or rethink a project due to cost or time.Sometimes we find we have some extra cash on hand,we can then look at the list and see if there is a project that we can get started on that fits into the extra cash budget.<br />
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Written down it all sounds so business like, schedules,costs,material lists blah,blah ... It is and it is not.We are working for ourselves to make our lives better but there's more flow to it than a 9-5 clock.It's all done by a clock that runs on seasonal time ticking by the day or week not hours.Like any work that needs to be done there are times when we are busy with a heavy work load,that's ok because we know there will be plenty of time to sit and watch the garden grow.<br />
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People say that winter is a time for coming indoors and resting.To me this is only partly true - yes in November and December there is not much to be done out in the gardens but come January things shift like the sun turning it's head to bring us more light. There is prep work to do,seed catalogs to dream over and plans to be laid out in tidy rows just like our garden beds.Our winter nap is over,time to get back to work.<br />
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I am personally excited for the coming year.Things are just looking hopeful and full of living life.One new thing that is already in place is I will be dropping down to 3 days a week at work.I will work longer days but it means I can be home a full day more.I have been thinking about what I will use that extra day for and I have set a goal for it- I will use at least part of that day to do something I have passion for.Rearranging my work hours will also give me more time to work on getting back to school.I am not letting go of that passionate dream of mine.My personal theme to the coming year is "Happily moving forward." I want to move forward with my life this year and I want to do it in a joyful way.Let's have some fun, use laughter's momentum and the hopefulness of dreams to get there.<br />
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My friend <a href="http://www.bettycrockerass.com/">Bettycrockerass</a> wrote a thoughtful post today about how she likes to start her New Year by filling New Year's Day with things she loves,with the hopes it will set the standard for the year..Check it out because you know that is a brilliant idea.<br />
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Alright I wrote this New Year's Day but didn't post it until the next day so the time frame is off but you all get any way I am sure.<br />
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My very last thing to share today is this video.I am fascinated all around by this.And I think this is my favorite gun on the face of the earth.<br />
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So who has already started to map out their year ? What are your plans?<br />
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Rois<br />
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P.S I just found this useful <a href="http://rareseeds.com/planting-guide/">guide</a> for planning your garden on the <a href="http://rareseeds.com/">Baker Creek site</a>.<br />
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<br />Roishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14960233101785516144noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44598359965018553.post-33691956072979677322012-12-23T10:49:00.000-08:002012-12-23T10:49:42.153-08:00P.S Holiday thoughts 2012<br />
After I posted my last blog post I went into the kitchen to frost our sugar cookies and I was reminded of another thing I am grateful for today.<br />
I am was happy to have our old dog Thora standing in the kitchen shamelessly begging once again for a sugar cookie.The one and only thing she will beg for until you give in.Maybe Thora had her last walk in the woods with us this fall but she is still here to enjoy her favorite treat.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How could you say no to this face?</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A younger Sol.<br /><br /><br />Also while looking for the photo of Thora I came across this one of Sol,a younger fellow then.We were visiting a music shop and he tried out the guitar in the photo with glee.It is the same one he got for Christmas this year.</td></tr>
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<br />Roishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14960233101785516144noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44598359965018553.post-91455060281906532622012-12-23T09:16:00.001-08:002012-12-23T09:16:46.298-08:00Holiday thoughts 2012My it's been busy around here! A good kind of busy but busy.<br />
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Last weekend we took our Sol down to the PSU Farmer's Market so he could play his guitar with his teacher and to help Sol's teacher James pack up once the set was over.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">James Clem and Sol.</td></tr>
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Friends came to show their support for our budding musician.One said she must really love us to come down in the rain and the cold.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ms Cole,all bundled up,it was a bit cold at the market.</td></tr>
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Our good friends The Smith's came to town that day and stopped by before they went to the ballet.</div>
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A rare treat to have them here,after the ballet they came to stay with us for a night.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Little Miss Smith came from Sister's!</td></tr>
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Somewhere on our computer is a video of the day but I am just not savvy enough to find it.The cherry on the top of the day was Sol got to bring home his Christmas present ,a new guitar of his dreams.I actually caught him hugging it he loves it so much.</div>
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We have also been busy getting our house back in order now that my Mom is resettled into her own place.I walked into our front room this morning and saw the Christmas tree and lights and could finally feel that Ah moment,our house is back to being our house.I really feel like the photo above catches us and our vibe,music,art,vintage things and color all in one shot.Nothing very "homestead-ish" but what does that look like anyway?</div>
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On the homestead front we tried a small experiment with the chickens.We skipped a week of giving them some suet just to see, is it the suet,a random act of kindness on the hens part or a flop?So far no eggs during the week of no suet.Today I will restart them and see how it goes.</div>
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Chance and I have been busy doing lots of holiday baking.A point that I find ironic,here I am saying Issac and I should not eat grains and here I am baking a mountain of cookies.Well,we are not perfect,it is the holidays and we know our limits pretty well.</div>
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I blogged about my Great Grandma's <a href="http://hrafinstaad.blogspot.com/2009/12/dark-days-of-winter-challenge-dinner-3.html">Dark Secret's </a> three Christmas' ago and think they are totally worth sharing again.As always I made a batch and then had to call my Dad to say hello.The Dark Secrets are his Grandma's recipe and his favorite holiday cookie.Dad was pleased to know the cookies were at that moment in the oven baking.There's something to said about traditions and keeping them going. </div>
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As I read through the Dark Secret post I was grateful we are past all of the woes we were going through then.Grateful my family is well and safe.After the shootings in the past few weeks I have been thinking about so much awful news the reflection was good for me.That really sounds self centered doesn't it? It's not that I do not have compassion for the families who lost their loved ones,I do but that moment was like a little band-aid on my heart.We can heal and move on.</div>
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I work retail and have been a Preschool teacher so both shootings hit me pretty close.When teaching, my students were mine for a few hours out of the day and I would have done anything to protect them,even step in front of gun fire.I am a bear of a Mama and that bear-ishness always carried over on to my students.</div>
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The day of the school shooting Chance and I were in the car together and he said to me-</div>
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" When I heard the news all I could hear in my head were the heart wrenching sobs we heard in the E.R that one night." We had Issac in the E.R waiting our turn to get help to fix something we both knew could be fixed.But down the way from us parents had just lost their child to a gunshot.It has been a moment in time that will stick with us for all time.</div>
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One never knows do they? So be joyfully grateful for those you love and show it.Joy and gratitude don't cost a thing but the more you share them the richer you will be.</div>
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The Solstice has come yet again and we are turning towards the brighter end of the year.May your holiday be filled with brightness,joy,love and gratitude.</div>
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And remember to walk on the sunny side of the street. </div>
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James Clem,Sol's teacher and his "Two Pea's in a Pod" friend.</div>
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One last thing before I close,I spied that I have a couple of new followers.Welcome ! Thanks for following along ,I look forward to hearing your future comments.</div>
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Rois<br /></div>
Roishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14960233101785516144noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44598359965018553.post-67318649009796775382012-12-10T19:17:00.004-08:002012-12-10T19:17:38.559-08:00Empty Nest & Full Nest or Life is good.Just a quick note-<br />
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We moved my Mom over the weekend.Did you hear a collective sigh from our house? Mom is happy and we are too.<br />
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Yesterday Chance found 3 eggs in the coop,the suet must be helping.Hopefully the eggs are an omen for us,one of good fortune and good things to come.<br />
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We are busy setting our house back in order so we can start thinking of the holiday and all of its cheerfulness.<br />
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On my holiday baking list is a batch of these<a href="http://www.thekitchn.com/holiday-recipe-peppermint-cream-squares-recipes-from-the-kitchn-181356?utm_campaign=topblock&utm_medium=web&utm_source=thekitchn-recipe"> peppermint bars</a>,I do love bar cookies so easy to make.<br />
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It would be grand if I found the time to make a <a href="http://www.designsponge.com/2012/12/clever-holiday-decorations-pom-pom-garland-by-ashley-g.html#more-157935">pom pom garland</a> for the house.Small detail there,time.But I may make one just because and hang it someplace in the house anyway.<br />
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Have you ever been on<a href="http://honest-food.net/"> Hunter Angler Gardener Cook</a>? I like the website better than the book.<br />
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RoisRoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14960233101785516144noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44598359965018553.post-62932381761149487782012-12-02T12:22:00.000-08:002012-12-02T14:44:25.297-08:00Lay some eggs,Dammit! This time of year our hens rarely lay any eggs,a point of frustration for us.We have tried changing to a better quality feed,running a light out to the coop and made sure they are let loose in the yard to forage.Nothing has worked yet.Then I get annoyed,I am feeding you chickens and the deal is I buy feed,you lay eggs.<br />
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Chance was talking at the curb with one of our favorite neighbors who is a nifty guy who has spent most of his life on a ranch in North Dakota.He still goes back a few times a year to make sure things are running fine.But anyway,the neighbor asked if we were getting any eggs,nope.The neighbor suggested feeding the hens some suet,that it is a sure fire way to get them laying again.The suet will give them some extra fat which they will convert into eggs.<br />
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Mmmm,a tub of suet.</div>
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Last night while we were at the local natural foods store Chance spied a tub of suet crumbles in the meat departments freezer section.We picked up the tub in the photo above for $.88,big spenders aren't we?</div>
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The tub is the same size as a large yogurt tub.</div>
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Today is day one of trying yet another experiment to get the hens to lay during the cold months.Our neighbor has given us other very helpful tips in the past so I am hoping this stays true with this one.I did do a bit of reading online and the general consensus was some suet is fine but to be careful of the chickens putting on too much weight.I am going to start by just giving them a handful at a time and see how it goes.</div>
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Rois</div>
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******The hens loved the suet! Now we wait.*********</div>
Roishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14960233101785516144noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44598359965018553.post-63558763814509167842012-11-28T19:40:00.000-08:002012-11-28T19:40:27.539-08:00Zoodles for Dinner,yum<br />
I personally try not to eat much grain of any sorts.I find that I just feel better with longer lasting energy.But I do live in a house full of grain eaters.Over the past couple of months I have been looking at <a href="http://robbwolf.com/what-is-the-paleo-diet/">Paleo Diet </a>recipes.Not because I am following that diet to a T but because the Paleo followers avoid grains too.I have tried the whole Gluten Free (G.F) route and still found I did not feel so good after eating many of the G.F things.<br />
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I am finding dinner following the Paleo guidelines is pretty easy.Or I can offer the rest of the family a side that is grain based that I don't eat.So far so good. Chance has been eating less grains and noticing an improvement in his energy levels.Sol eats most of what I put in front of him at dinner.Issac,he's another sad to me story,he would live on grains,grains,meat and raw veg.But like I mentioned in my last post,no pressure from me,just making a suggestion.<br />
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For tonight's dinner I made a Paleo dish I have been wanting to try, <a href="http://nomnompaleo.com/post/5695132949/zucchini-spaghetti-zoodles-meatballs">Zoodles with Sauce</a>.Zoodles also known as Zucchini Spaghetti which is made from zucchini.(As if you couldn't figure that one out,Duh Rois.)You just make up a pot of Spaghetti sauce and pour it over the Zoodles.You can get the details by linking over to<a href="http://nomnompaleo.com/"> Nom Nom Paleo</a>. Making the Zoodles was really easy and fast.<br />
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Tonight I did cook up some pasta knowing full well Issac would decline the Zoodles and was not sure of my Mom.Chance and I ate all Zoodles,Sol did half and half but then said next time he would just take the Zoodles.And surprise Issac went all pasta.Mom did half and half too and loved it.<br />
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We enjoyed dinner so much there was barely enough left for my lunch for at work tomorrow.It's another recipe I can add to our dinner ideas that I know we will like.I also thought it would be easy enough to use the Zoodles in other dishes that call for pasta.I am thinking something along the lines of pan-fried Asian noodles.<br />
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I hope you will check out Nom Nom Paleo's recipes,there's some good food over there.If you are G.F maybe you will find something new to try.Or you just like exploring new foods and food ideas.<br />
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Anyone else have a food based link they would like to share?<br />
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RoisRoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14960233101785516144noreply@blogger.com6