worms eat my garbage

A very long time ago we heard the term VERMICULTURE and we fell in love... It is raising worms. We bought the book Worms Eat My Garbage and since we have been dreaming of starting worm composting in our home. What a great homeschooling experiment of raising worms. So, we have finally taken that plunge and we now have worms in our kitchen - on purpose! We built the bin out of a 10 gallon rubbermaid container. Jason cut holes in the sides for ventilation, but he put screens over the holes so that flies can't get in and the worms (in theory) can't get out. We've already had a few escapees, but we figure we just haven't created the perfect environment for our little red wigglers yet and that it will take time for us to get it right. It was the same with the compost outside. It took a while for us to learn how to keep it making compost and stay hot and when to add what and so forth, so the worm bin will be a whole new experiment to get right. As we venture into this and in the spring we are getting chickens (hoping to start on a chicken coop in the next couple of weeks) almost all of our food waste will either be fed to worms, chickens, or dogs and hopefully we will produce even less waste in the trash can than we already do. Well, anyhow, here are some pictures of Jason and I putting the stuff into the bin to kick off feeding the worms! (the kids weren't here, but they were plenty excited when they got home to check out the worms) Wish us luck and offer any advice you might have on raising worms and worm composting for those of you who are experienced in vermiculture. For those of you who are totally grossed out, sorry...

The Bin

adding the shredded paper

getting the paper wet

adding the worms

watching them wiggle down

Lastly, the food scraps... we buried the food and put on the lid and the worms are good to eat our garbage!

cakes, cakes and more cakes

As many of you know, India has been taking a cake decorating class with my mother. She just finished her 2nd session on Wednesday. Now, we have been eating a lot of cake, but it has been worth it to see her accomplish so great as the above cake! She made all the flowers and the basket weave on this cake all by herself in class. They decided to take the cake to church this week since we are all getting tired of eating cake, but we did get to enjoy the great job she did on this. Impressive, is it not?

starting seeds

My bathroom has become the location for our seed starting operation this year. We have started onions, 4 different types of tomatoes, green, red, yellow, and orange peppers, kale, spinach, lettuce, basil, and zinnias, marigolds, cosmos, and bachelor buttons because what garden isn't complete without some flowers for the cutting? From the outside of our house it looks like we have a purple light on in the bathroom, but everything is looking good. We haven't started the squash or cucumbers as they need larger trays than ones we have, so we'll get those this weekend and they'll go on the bottom shelf!

India's slumber party

On Saturday night, we had a slumber party for India. She had 5 other girls over and I have to say I was totally dreading it. No sleep, lots of noise, and a headache for mom, but it turned out the were so awesome! I'm not quite ready to do it again, but it was still great! India wanted to have a horror movie birthday, but I wasn't quite comfortable with renting R rated horror movies for her yet, plus I didn't want to have to call any moms to come and get them at 2 in the morning. So, we rented Gremlins, Something Wicked This Way Comes, and The Twilight Zone Movie. 3 somewhat creepy movies that you just can't go wrong with. Meme made her an eyeball cake. The picture really doesn't do it justice. It had the big eyeball on top and the little ones along the bottom. A pretty far stretch from the roses and daisies they have been learning in class - not to mention the cake was delicious!

India lit all the candles herself and served it up to everyone. After the moms all left (a few stuck around to have a glass of wine with me) the kids settled into their play while eating pizza and cheese straws. They did Bloody Mary (remember that - it is still cool) and they dressed up, then they started watching movies. Jason and I watched The Twilight Zone with them, then he and I retired to our room and gave up the house. (Kalib was smart and went home with Elijah for the night). The kids were great! They didn't make too much noise and Jason and I were able to get some sleep (which I have to say surprised me). I was having some allergy problems and had drank some Cold Care PM tea, so getting to sleep wasn't a problem for me. India told me Taylor was roller skating, but I didn't hear it, so she must not have been making too much noise or Jason would have heard because he is a much lighter sleeper than me. The girls all said they went to bed around 6, I don't know about that. I got up around 4 to let the dogs out and though all the lights were on, the TV was silent and it looked like everyone was asleep when I walked into the kitchen.

I was pretty proud of all the kids for being so great. Sometimes it can be trying when there are so many in one place for such a long time, but it seemed like when an issue came up, they dealt with it maturely and honestly, something most adults are not able to do. I really love all the kids that came over and am continually grateful for my children to have such wise other children in their lives and I am also thankful that their moms are all so great. I love knowing and being involved with my children's friends families. Somehow, it feels like it is supposed to feel. I feel in touch with their lives and I appreciate knowing who they are spending their time with and knowing what their friends lives are also like. Life is good and I am now the mother of a 10 year old. 2 digits. Crazy. Who would have ever thought it? Certainly not me... and she only gets cooler!

india's 10

As of yesterday, our little girl is now 10. Two digits. There's no going back now! India is my greatest teacher. She has been since the day I found out I was pregnant. I had to shape up or ship out. As soon as I found out I was pregnant with her, naturally, everything changed. I had to become the person I really wanted to be inside. I was scared senseless, but willing... On the day she was born as I gazed into her dark eyes I knew she would be my greatest teacher pushing every possible boundary and idea I have ever had. She continues to amaze me and push me harder and harder to be the best person I can be. She has taught me patience I never knew I could possibly have and I'm still working on having more. She has taught me kindness as she is one of the kindest people I know. Always willing to help out the underdog or make sure everyone is getting to play. I love to watch her with kids younger than she is because she is ALWAYS willing to help them out and lend a hand. She is such a natural nurturer. She is silly and witty and fun to be around (most of the time - we all have our moments.) She knows what she wants and she goes after it. She is understanding and takes life's lessons and puts them to good use. She never fails to amaze me and make me proud, even when she has made a choice I don't agree with, I know she will learn from it and try to not make it again.

I love you, India, you are my Lady Bug who comes and rids us of the nasty little pests that get us down, you are my little Buddha and teach me to be a better person in this earth walk. You are wise beyond your years and I know and daddy knows, you can be and do anything you want in the world because you are who you are. We are soooo proud of you and look forward to watching you become the person you are and the person you will be. Happy Birthday!

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Before

Here's a picture of what will hopefully be our garden by the end of summer. It will stretch to just where the trees look like they end and up to the ridge you really can't see in this picture. Jason keeps worrying we aren't going to have enough room to grow a lot, I keep thinking we are going to be VERY busy.

He has actively been picking up leaves to mulch with. At Kalib's last count we were up to 50. That was on Saturday, but he's been around for more since then...

In this space, he has moved a couple of the nankin Cherries from our yard so they can grown even bigger than they already were. Hopefully, we'll get even more cherries this year than last. (Here's what they looked like in May of last year.)

As soon as he gets home, he's busy until dark. I can't wait until we are busy picking all this food and getting it ready for us to have in Winter. You guys are going to be calling us the Ingles before long... (One can dream...)

new years resolution - new life resolution!

Something I have been thinking a lot about in the last few days is how inward I like to go this time of year. I put on my bear robes (as my sweet friend Madrona calls them) and stay inside. I'm already a huge hermit who loves to just be at home working on a project of some sort or another or curled up with my kids reading a book or watching a movie. Around Christmas every year, I start to really crave time alone, time where life isn't plowing me over. I like to slow down and evaluate and get in touch with my goals for myself not only in the coming year, but in the future and I like to weed out what I don't need in my life. I'm consistently contemplating change and how to bring my dreams into reality and how to do away with what isn't needed. This past year has been really stressful for us with lots of life changes in the areas of our jobs. I'm thankful the year is over and we are beginning to transition and beginning to find our flow again, but without the time of evaluation, this isn't possible for me. I think this is what this time of year is all about. The earth is asleep, we are hibernating and dreaming of the the fresh berries and roots in the early spring as the days warm up, we are dreaming of what we want our lives to be and how we want to live. This year, I'm INSPIRED to be in control of my own destiny! I want to live even more simply, I want to be more self-sustained, and I want to spend more time at home creating in the garden, in the kitchen, and in my small creative space. I didn't produce any where near enough art last year to suit my creative spirit, and this year, I want to remember to leave more time in my busy life to make art. I want time in my schedule to travel to visit friends, and I want to grow my own food and put it away for the winter months as well as have food to share with my friends and family. I'm thankful for being able to honor my natural tendency to be self absorbed this time of year and I'm thankful for the time to slow down and be able to pull my head out of the sand and look onto life with a fresh perspective and know that the future is only what I make of it and that this moment is what I choose to make of it. I am in control of my life and where it goes. It is my responsibility to make my dreams reality and that is my new life resolution. I WILL MAKE MY LIFE MY OWN!!!!

my grandma's 85th birthday

It isn't everyday that you get to celebrate your grandmother turning 85. Today, my family and many of her friends came together and surprised her with a birthday celebration in her honor. There were around 60 of us. It was awesome! My aunt and uncle that live in Texas came in to surprise her and boy was she surprised! Her gentleman friend helped us get her there and she called and canceled with him this morning, so I had to call her and tell her she HAD to go out with him today, that he had planned something special for them to do. Thankfully, that was all it took. He took her to eat and then brought her up to my parents church where we all greeted her as she came in with a big surprise!

We had a lot of good food for the eating. Homemade cheese straws, brownies, quiche, pigs n' blankets, eclairs, fruit, veggies. It was quite the spread.

India and my mom made and decorated this great cake for her!And she got 2 dozen roses.Everyone was soooo happy to celebrate this wonderful woman.Not to mention people brought her tons of beautiful presents. The coolest one of all was a woman she has known for over 50 years and she brought a picture of she and my grandmother when they were young and I knew my grandmother was beautiful as a young woman, but she was gorgeous!

This is my grandfathers side of the family that were able to join us.and this was my grandmothers side of the family that were able to join us.

carrots anyone?

Carrots grown in our garden. India was on the phone on Monday when she came in saying she had picked the carrots. Now, my first reaction was OH NO!!! Dad's going to get your goat for picking them too early, but her determination never ceases to amaze me. She promised they were ready for picking, but she didn't bring them in. She washed them off outside and left them there until Jason came home. I peeked outside and they looked ok. I certainly didn't want her to get fussed at for picking them too soon - not that Jason ever REALLY fusses at them, it isn't in his nature, but I was mostly worried he would be disappointed if they weren't ready, but they obviously were. They are gorgeous. They are from anywhere between 6 and 8 inches long and they taste so good! The best carrots we've ever had. I love that India and Kalib both are so into the food we grow, especially as we move towards growing more and more. It is one of the most rewarding things I can think of. Going out into the garden and bringing in vegetables grown through our hard work and it is even more rewarding when the kids are excited about it and can't stay out of the refrigerator because they want just one more carrot. How awesome is that?

We are about to plow a big part of the field in front of the house to really expand our garden and grow some serious vegetables. We are going through our catalogs and picking the vegetables we want to grow which is always fun and we'll be starting our seeds as soon as they get here in hopes of early cucumbers and tomatoes and cantaloupes and musk melons... oh my gosh, just thinking about it all makes my mouth water. We are also going to be planting some more carrots and we are going to give celery a try because my girl loves celery and there will be some red peppers for Hazel thrown in there and we will be sending some cucumbers Stella's way because she was helping me decide which ones we wanted last night since she loves them! I really can't wait until we have food to share with our friends and food to save for the winter. The more I think about it all the more excited I get. I know it is going to be a tremendous amount of work, but becoming more and more self-sustaining appeals to me - not to mention if we are able to save food for winter, imagine how much money we will save and how much better the food will taste to us knowing it came from our hard work! The kids are excited about it all too. India is great at starting seeds and growing lettuce and Kalib can't get enough of tearing up stumps and digging holes. Talk about some serious homeschooling!

frustration...

Well... we are going to be off line with pictures for a few days. It was my intention to get back to writing regularly this week as we settle back into some normalcy again. What is normalcy for us anyways, right? But, alas, as Jason and I were sitting at the desk top last night our power went out during a very random thunderstorm in January and our desk top died. It won't come back on. Thankfully, most of our files are saved on an external hard drive, but there are some things we are going to need to get off the hard drive that is in the computer. If anyone knows how to do this, that would be awesome! We have already ordered a new computer, but it will be around a week before it gets here. Money we were going to spend on a new stove we spent on a new computer. Freakin' Mercury Retrograde! So, very tired of Mercury retrograde...