authors' tea time again

more arlo

arlo

spring break in smalltown

This is one of John's pictures, the front of a small train, and the chili peppers are to ward off evil spirits.

seasonal kimchi

4# vegetables, any blend of daikon radish, brussel sprouts, green tomatoes, carrot, napa cabbage, etc
1/2 cup salt


A paste of 1.5 cups water, 1/4 cup sweet rice flour, and 2 tbsp. sugar


6 oz grated daikon radish
2 oz ginger
2 or more grated garlic
1/4 c fish sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar


Ferment until it tastes right to you and then put in the fridge.

science fair

arlo

 We went to visit Arlo yesterday. He lives in a gorgeous rural community on a working farm with sheep, donkeys, horses, chickens, guineas, border collies. and great pyrennes.  He might have the border collie colors and markings, but he certainly doesn't have more than a spoonful of border collie. He is a big dog and barked when we arrived but then was a little shy. He warmed up into a treat loving, ear licking sweet guy. He doesn't move too fast even though is still has some puppy in him. I think he has the calm nature that Ruby needs and the fun loving ball playing nature that the older kids will enjoy. He sits, doesn't pull on the leash, and comes when he is called.  He pays absolutely no attention to free ranging chickens and cats. We'll visit again in two weeks with the kids, but we feel like he is moving to the mountains, and I'm really looking forward to him joining the pack.

the big snow

february skies

We have almost eight inches of snow tonight. This was the sunset a few nights ago. The kids went out sledding just before dark, and we may be looking at up to eighteen inches of snow.

3

missus big daddy to you

Time reveals that Big Daddy is a Buff Brahma hen.

all it takes is a few warm days

a dinner party for chickens

in the woods

in the new year

Things have been pretty quiet around here. A friend of mine closed her blog at the end of the year, and that seemed like a novel idea. Then someone stole a few old pictures from this blog and used them on a CafeMom message board. She used some pictures of John, and then told all the people on her board that her baby had died. She had a huge community of women very upset. Luckily, a few of them were savvy enough to see through some of her story and did some investigating on their own, and they were very happy to learn that that little baby is eight years old now and doing just fine.


Christmas did me in a little.

So I gave it a month.

Here I am, taking pictures this morning of the nearly one hour process to make a cup of coffee. The power went off right after I finished making the kid's lunches. I took them to school, and it was up to five degrees by the time I got home. That fire did not want to get going, and we have been challenged by some gorgeous yet perhaps not seasoned oak. It looks like we are at the tail end of some cold weeks, but we are going to need more wood if we are going to make it through April.

April sounds good.

january grey

January is such a sweet relief, a quick shift to grey and the desire to rid my life of the "stuff". I finally got all the Christmas things packed into the basement this afternoon, and I'm eyeing boxes and piles with fresh eyes. What can go? What don't we need, and what don't we love? I'm feeling unsentimental in my quest to stop being a slave to the things we own. It is crazy that I can't mop under my bed because there are a thousand pounds of comic books under there. How much fabric is enough? I've been cleaning deep in the kitchen drawers and cabinets. I have white paint for the utility room and the downstairs bath. I'm almost ready to start painting the kitchen white. Yes, the red wall stays.

The polar vortex was an experiment here in the 128 year old house. The upstairs cold water pipes froze for a few hours, but I think we were saved by the morning sun. My biggest fear was the chickens, but apparently they are resilient creatures. I did add extra bedding and wrapped the coop with a tarp. We pushed a few trees through the stove and made it through the coldest days without losing power.

I'm thinking about seeds, compost, and bonfires.

at home

rave on John Donne

“A Nocturnal Upon St. Lucy’s Day, Being the Shortest Day”

TIS the year's midnight, and it is the day's,
Lucy's, who scarce seven hours herself unmasks;
    The sun is spent, and now his flasks
    Send forth light squibs, no constant rays;
            The world's whole sap is sunk;
The general balm th' hydroptic earth hath drunk,
Whither, as to the bed's-feet, life is shrunk,
Dead and interr'd; yet all these seem to laugh,
Compared with me, who am their epitaph.

Study me then, you who shall lovers be
At the next world, that is, at the next spring;
    For I am every dead thing,
    In whom Love wrought new alchemy.
            For his art did express
A quintessence even from nothingness,
From dull privations, and lean emptiness;
He ruin'd me, and I am re-begot
Of absence, darkness, death—things which are not.

All others, from all things, draw all that's good,
Life, soul, form, spirit, whence they being have;
    I, by Love's limbec, am the grave
    Of all, that's nothing. Oft a flood
            Have we two wept, and so
Drown'd the whole world, us two; oft did we grow,
To be two chaoses, when we did show
Care to aught else; and often absences
Withdrew our souls, and made us carcasses.

But I am by her death—which word wrongs her—
Of the first nothing the elixir grown;
    Were I a man, that I were one
    I needs must know; I should prefer,
            If I were any beast,
Some ends, some means ; yea plants, yea stones detest,
And love; all, all some properties invest.
If I an ordinary nothing were,
As shadow, a light, and body must be here.

But I am none; nor will my sun renew.
You lovers, for whose sake the lesser sun
    At this time to the Goat is run
    To fetch new lust, and give it you,
            Enjoy your summer all,
Since she enjoys her long night's festival.
Let me prepare towards her, and let me call
This hour her vigil, and her eve, since this
Both the year's and the day's deep midnight is.

getting ready

 

This is little John kissing Santa Claus many years ago. The kids are getting very excited and enjoying their small Christmas preparations. My room looks like Santa's workshop, and I need to transform it into a guest bedroom in the next two days. One thing about a hundred year old house is the lack of any storage space. I have no hiding places.

Ella had a beautiful hot chocolate bar set up by nine this morning for Solstice. We enjoyed dinner and a bonfire with a few friends, a Leaping Water's Farm fresh ham, lentils with walnuts, currants, and caramelized onions, fresh bread, cheeses, kale salad, and poached pears with salted caramel gelato.

December 19