Back to the Plan

Well, I guess an update is in order. A few short days after my last post I was taken ill and spent over a week in the hospital. My lung had collapsed. Apparently my years of smoking and my awful cold contributed to my spontaneous pneumothorax. It was awful, but I made it through it. I am still struggling with my addiction to tobacco, my feelings of angst, and a rather hefty hospital bill! :) But ..... I made it through it, so that is what I have to focus on.  I have to not worry about it, and concentrate on what is good, and how I can keep it so.

After my return home, and a few weeks of recovery, I started to cooking a lot of comfort foods. How cliche to eat instead of smoke, but it was just how I felt I wanted to spend time. those first weeks I made a lot of good meals.... Chicken cutlets with pork tenderloin red sauce, Lasagna, Stroganoff, Salisbury steak..... I started to bake dinner rolls and biscuits...then became more daring and tried my hand at sour dough....then deserts, yes cookies, that is easy...but also French Silk Pie....Mmmmmm...that's my husband's favorite.  And it began to occur to me that even though I have spent my life skinny, (and that is partly to blame for my lung collapsing) I am gaining weight after I stopped smoking. Granted, I am cooking all the time...but I always have. It's still the tail end of winter in the Midwest, so outdoor activity has come halting...so that may contribute too...but I think a lot of it is that we are just getting older. We may be wiser, I am not sure...but the older...that is a measurable event.
But I found some great sites while searching for my comfort in foods....some helpful advise is so great....

http://cookistry.blogspot.com/2011/03/technique-troubleshooting-dough.html
I keep returning to this one just to read about the breads! LOL, it's really a great start.
Thefreshloaf.com this one was pretty great, too.

I keep thinking "we HAVE to get that house done!"...it is costing us everyday we stay here! And it makes everyone miserable daydreaming about it.
I keep thinking "I won't be here forever".....I better enjoy NOW, NOW, or I may never have a chance. And I keep thinking, "you will be a better farmer without cigarettes....GET OVER IT!!!" So I will try!

I have been thinking of a few things I love....and remodeling is so a part of us (my husband and I). Last night I saw the best episode of  "I hate my kitchen" on DIY Network. Although I would not do exactly what that couple did, and I don't have a $21,000 budget...I DID love some of their choices. Green glass tiles, an integrated compost bucket (at over $300...GEEZ!) The stainless open shelving was AWESOME, although I would never do it....and a BEER TAP in the kitchen!!! YA! Now THAT, is right up my alley!!!
Well, except that mine will be in the breakfast bar section of the kitchen/dining.....
They used a bright green paint on the walls, which I LOVED...and it got me thinking about the colors of my space...hmmm....not a lot of walls in there....But I really loved the space...

but what was really cool was the magnetic primer they used under it.  After several coats of the primer, which was infused with iron....they used their walls as a magnetic board...it was pretty neat!!
It's all in the imagining how you will live in the space...what you can do to it, how you can change it to fit your needs.

Then I kept watching DIY Net...just because...I watched until it was pretty late.  I am a HUGE fan of the "crashers" series...BUT, I know I would never be so lucky as to get crashed...I really would love to...I even know their names...I think (Matt Muenster, Amed Hassan, and Josh Templeton...well, I think anyways!)

I like the shows because the remodels are FAST, the are SWEET looking, and they are FREE even though the materials they use (at least Matt always hooks it up) are CUTTING EDGE, and very PRICEY. So nice....so so nice! I know that there are other great shows on DIY, but the Crasher are my top pic...and Rehab Addict would be up there, too...because I really really love how Nikki preserves historical integrity. my husband says we are a lot a like, physically and otherwise! ;) Mostly because we both tend to have dark circles under our eyes, LOL and we are very petite ladies...well, some of us USED to be! LOL

So I am getting RE-motivated about the house....AND THE PROSPECT OF SPRING.

Right now we are in the process of wiring. We are making home runs, running the lighting circuits, installing can lights, receptacle and switch boxes, fan mounts.....We are making final decisions about the lay out....We are getting closer...and I love it.  HUGE things are coming....HUGE.  And with it, a huge amount of stress, too.  It is going to be a long process.....and I am realizing that it may take us until fall to complete the project.  Over a full year...but that is ok....I knew that things NEVER go to plan, and when your plan is as loose as ours....well, it's more likely to meander to the destination.  But it is all for the best.

I have pondered where to garden...here or there? And I decided HERE! and maybe THERE!!
I already have so much in place here, it is too much to ignore the plots out there. I figure, if nothing else, if we decided to take the cinder blocks from this garden, to start the next, what is stopping the plants in place from growing??  Not a thing!!
So I planted. I planted potatoes at the first of March, and the other day I covered them with compost. They were culled red norlands from the restaurant that my FIL works at.  Which is DOUBLE great...for one, they were free, normally you pay about $4 for 10 seed potatoes. for another, they are ORGANIC and LOCAL....so...TRIPLE GREAT!!!!
Audrey and I threw out some onion family seeds by the garlic and chives, and I figure we can plant tomatoes in the back of that bed.
The bean bed of last year, we threw down some seeds, too. carrots, peas, spinach...and I can't wait for it to grow.  I don't know why I planted the peas. Neither of my kids will eat them...Audrey seems to be writing off anything green, and Chas, being so sophisticated, informed me that he prefers canned, because he likes the mushy texture, I suppose. Last night I made him eat asparagus...I dumped cheese sauce on it, and he said it still wasn't enough...I thought it was good though!! When he is older, I think he will change his mind....
The only other thing I have to harvest now is chives, which I did, and ate sour cream and chive potatoes for several days. The other day I broke down and bought some store produce...HOW IT KILLS ME TO EAT A MEXICAN TOMATO IN MISSOURI, I cannot describe to you...HOW UNFAIR that the tomato gets to vacation in the heart of the Ozarks, and I don't get to go to Cozumel....seems sort of backwards to eat that way.....     : ->
Anyways, I splurged....I bought a $6 T-Bone....yum...OMG, yum...how this Texas girl "loves me some steak!!". And I had to have salad with it....so off we went, and this was one expensive trip to Dillon's. Red leaf lettuce is $2, $1.50 avacado (the exception to mexican and south of mexico produce!!), Spinach $3, tomato $1.50, cucumber $.99......but it was really really good. I topped this with my home made garlic bread croutons, and some onion parmesian dressing.....man that was good! Now I crave the spinach....
I have always always loved spinach. even the mushy canned stuff, and as I got older, learned how much I LOVE the butter taste of fresh spinach....I use it in place of lettuce, by preference at Subway, and at home!!
speaking of; I made a WONDERFUL sandwich with my (store bought) french bread. YUM!! I was telling my son this last night and he said he wanted to try it. (glad he said so as I sliced the other half of the loaf for garlic bread to go with our alfredo linguine....I had to use up that whipping cream, so we won't eat it anymore! LMAO) He thought it sounded good...so I saved him two slices for today's lunch.  I asked if he wanted lettuce, he says yes, but no to the spinach...well, I snuck it in there anyways.  I just don't see how he could tell the difference, it's green, it's crunchy and it has iron, not just water!! I do LIKE lettuce, but it is kinda worthless nutritionally...I LOVE spinach...and I don't mind tricking him into eating it.
SO that was my story...
1. I miss my garden and eating foods I GREW...there is SOO much pride in that...it makes me wish I grew that T-Bone, too!
2. I love making breads, and utilizing them for other things. I really enjoyed the french bread sandwich more that a sliced loaf bread sandwich. I really liked getting to use my croutons, they had been in the container for ages, waiting on a salad...and they were really good, I was amazed. they were just cut up, left over garlic bread! nothing special.  Just cut ....

This makes me think...(everything does!)
It makes me think about the next year, and the one after that. It makes me think about how a few years ago, well even last year, at this time...I had nothing to harvest....and although I only have a very few things at the moment...its that many more than before. Just asparagus and chives. But I know that asparagus and chives will live on in the garden until I choose to change it.  And in future years, i could possibly have clamped potatoes to go with my chives...EVEN BETTER, to have FRESH MILK, from the farm, for the sour cream, and butter.....HOW WONDERFUL IS THAT TO DREAM??  And the way I see it, it's not that far fetched. I mean, how many dairy's are in my neighborhood?? How far is Memory Lane?? It's not very far....8-10 miles, maybe.

I just want you to know that I am serious.  This makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside to imagine...ONLY EATING LOCAL.
no mcdonalds.
no taco bell.
no kfc.

WHAT DO THOSE PLACES HAVE THAT I DON'T HAVE????
Msg, preservatives, to start...
and how far away did the chicken travel....HOW MANY TIMES DID IT CROSS THE ROAD?????

I have proven to myself that I don't need it...and now I am beginning to realize that I don't want it either.
I want my own foods. I want then to travel less than 15 miles to get to my plate.  I want them to be thought through meals, intentional. Things I want, things I crave.
I don't CRAVE a big Mac. I don't need dehydrated refried beans and sour cream that comes out of a caulk gun. (check it out next time you visit the "Bell"). I am not opposed to dehydration...but I just think that we sacrifice so much for convenience and not having to over think anything about life day to day. It's silly.
That is not the message that I am trying to teach my kids, and my family and friends.

I believe that the "day to day" deal...that IS life. You have to embrace it all for what it is. you have to enjoy every day, the good the bad and the ugly. And when it's bad and ugly, you have to make it good. And that is what makes a person good, that they keep aiming for something better. this happens to be my something better.

I enjoyed that spot on "I hate my kitchen" for a few other reasons too.
1.) I love hippies! Especially ones that can pull off a great set of nappy dreads. It may not be everyone's taste. but I find it adorable.
2.) I love organic gardening and composting and they made a point to talk about it repeatedly. Organic isn't just a trend...it's the right thing to do...but it has become awfully trendy....I'm just saying!
3.) I liked that the couple was artish...the guy was more clean cut, and the girl was a total hippie....reminds me of stories about the 60's....geez....but that is the type of couple I can relate to...complete opposites...coming together...that's the stuff I love!
4.) I loved the incorporation of RECYCLED materials...the countertops...well, it's kind of ridiculous that it's MORE expensive than granite and marble. They used those great mosaic backsplash tiles that I can't wait to get my greedy little hands on!! (thankfully that can wait virtually forever!) They even used a light cover from a stop light...( I have NO clue where you can purchase that)....all these things...are so GREEN. And of course...bamboo flooring...the greenest we know of at this time in history. It was well thought, for this couple.
5.) the chickens...I really loved the chickens...the fact that they showed them (and the plants) so much. they spotlighted the eggs, the compost, the garden ...and the chickens....they spotlighted a lifestyle that to some seems weird or farfetched....but to me...it looked like the life I have been dreaming of....
collecting veggies from the garden., and eggs from the chicken coop, feeding them scraps and grains I grew...composting, in a stylish way ( I currently use coffee cans and creamer cans...a far cry from the posh set up they had!!) They spoke not only of their beer brewing, organic gardening, chicken raising and canning...They spoke of a lifestyle that I love...that I want.

What I didn't like:

• $300+ for a in counter compost bucket??? that is just stupid
• over priced materials abound. the custom cabinets, crazy faucet, and upgrading appliances that seemed to me to be just fine.
• they did not speak of reusing any of the old cabinets. not even in the basement (duh) or garage. Bad Hippy!
• I wanted to see a bay window for their seed starting OR an outdoor cold frame or hotbed nearby to the kitchen. I think that was a major part of their lifestyle...and I hate it when the kitchen is so nice no one wants to use it!! I think that kitchens should be designed to use the hell out of them. They need to be beyond durable...they need to be well planned for the uses of the owner. Not general purposed for everyone. This couple needed a place to germinate that was out of the way of the countertops...
• I liked some of the open stainless shelving...BUT...it seems like they wasted a lot of space on pilsners...it made me feel like they drank more than they ate! There were some oddly placed things. Spices all over instead of jsut by the stove.  Beer by the sink, but I don't know where exactly the compost was...it was a little strange....but over all, it was OK

I gotta go now...but these are just some of my recent thoughts....

I will get back on task soon, but I have croutons and crumbs to make today, dishes and loaundry to do, and another child to transport to school and back, and dinner to plan!  So much to accomplish each day...let's get to it!

Latest book I am reading

Yesterday I was at the Webster County Library. If you have ever visited it, it is probably less than 1,000 square feet. And yet, I still, am able to find something to read, and if I were more fond of fiction, I would be able to read all that library had to offer in less than 2 years, and that is with taking breaks all summer long.

I came upon the book by accident. As it sat atop a bookshelf with a few other miscellaneous books. I still have yet to figure out all the sections in the tiny library.  As far as I can tell, it is mostly comprised of Christian fiction, but there are still a several titles that I will want to borrow. I haven't utilized a library in a long time, not since my son was little and we borrowed games and videos for him. So this has become something I have grown fond of. It is a quaint little place, with friendly librarians, who still enjoy reading. It is rather low-tech, although they still use the bar code scanners and computers for a card catalog, so at least I don't go in there wondering what I should do! I  put the book back, thinking, with two more in my hand, I wouldn't have the time to read it before the due date. Then I changed my mind, and grabbed it up, adding it back to my stack. I am glad that I did.

So about this book, then.
Possum Living, by Dolly Freed, is an interesting and somewhat humorous tale of a young woman and her father, jobless in Pennsylvania.  She describes how and why they get by with little to no money at all.  After her mother abandoned them, they have found many ways to procure food and goods needed, and have decided that there are lots of things you JUST DON'T NEED. She describes her style of living this way because; "Sometimes Daddy frets and says we are little better than possums living this way.  Possums can live most anywhere, even in big cities.  They're the stupidest of animals, but there were possums on earth millions of years before men appeared, and here they are-still going strong"
She goes into economics, budgeting, and the cost of living (in 1978). She has a list of the things they DON'T spend money on, and in that list is vacations. (we don't really exactly vacation, but we do take trips sometimes). I love this line:
"Vacations, another common expenditure, are not required-our whole life is just one big vacation. We don't need to "get away from it all" because there is nothing we want to get away from."

That statement really began to suck me in to her writing.  Not that the writing is spectacular. Just the opposite.  The fact that opossum is misspelled (or not, depends who is asked), and her indifference to the mores of society, her obvious lack of formal education, her distaste for all that is the "rat race", just makes the writing more entertaining.
I am from Texas, and now reside in rural Missouri.
I once visited New York, and was asked how I like all the cows. I thought to myself, How do you like all the smog? The stressed out executives that curse the tourists in their Big Apple?  how do you cope in a microcosmos of stress, and competition? A population that far exceeds the land? Homelessness, and starvation are a daily occurance, to the point that no one cares about them anymore...how is that working out for ya'll?
  I love my area. Yes, it can be boring if you are from a big city, and enjoy that kind of stuff.  I, on the other hand, find comfort in living in a community that still opens it's doors for the homeless, when there is a wind chill advisory. On slow crime days ( a lot of days) the police will actually go out and assist the homeless to the Red Cross, and churches that invite them in to stay warm. I find comfort, that we are not too good, too busy, or just plain too greedy, to care about those in need, and less fortunate than ourselves.  So if you are a New Yorker, or other city life sucker, think about it....where would you go to "get away"? Vermont? Maine? the Hamptons?  Yes, that is right.....THE COUNTRY!!! I would chose that vacation everyday, and visit the executive monkeys when I fail to appreciate what I have here.

Her chapter titles are cute, too. chapter 4 " We rassle with our consciences" just cracks me up. She describes her father as "the old fool", yet speaks of him endearingly, obviously she adores him.  she lists what Daddy thinks about living the possum life, stating that it is "unmanly to worry so about the future." and that "Jesus clearly and specifically taught against concern for future security (Matthew 6:25-34). Like it or not, it's un-Christian to plan for the future." {what a riot!} Her father says, "There is nothing I do now as a young man to live that I won't be able to do as an old man"  and my favorite " I refuse to spend the first sixty years of my life worrying about the last twenty." She says "The notion of kicking the kids out of the old nest and sticking the old folks into some retirement village is part and parcel of industrialized economics, which I also dislike on other grounds"......"The idea of genetic immortality-the family going on and on forever-appeals to me. It's the closest thing I have to a religion"

So I find that in her simple words, and her obvious rural dialect, that some things still ring so clear and true. That it does not take a higher education to love, to live and laugh. It takes heart. And by leaving behind all these notions, she is left only with the purity of just getting by.  They have each other, and in that they have everything.
She has chapters about raising and butchering rabbit and chicken from their cellar. Fishing, Frogging and hunting turtle from local waters. Some topics are a bit more than I think I would be willing to try, but then, in reading it, it gives me a sense of what it really was like to live they way they have. 1978 is not so far in the past, and not so long ago that this way of living was the norm. But, then, "to each his own". They lived this way not because they HAD to, but because they WANTED to, and enjoyed it. They loved their wild caught food, and they had their own ways of preparing them, their own ideas of catching them. She says, "Some people reportedly play "turtle roulette." They feel around in holes in banks where snappers retire during daylight hours, hoping to grab the thing's tail with their right hand and gaff it before it wakes up. I don't know anything about this technique. If you want to learn it, go to any rural town and ask for "Lefty". He'll be happy to tell you all about it." {that is just funny, don't care who you are!}

this book isn't a text book of getting by, it is almost nearly a novel, non-fiction, but a novel all the same. I read it in less than a day, maybe closer to half a day. I especially enjoyed the afterward. While reading the book, I couldn't help but wonder how that worked out for them. Did she stay living with her father her whole adult life? Did they continue their possum lifestyle?  She answers those questions in the Afterward, written in 2009. And I applaud the addition. with out that, it may as well have ended with a cliff-hanger for me.  I won't spoil it...the way it all turns out for her, and her father. But I do however wonder, why he was ever in that car? Or was he? It makes me even more curious about her life now, and if she ever chose to write another book.  Keep in mind, all the while, that this woman was a mere 18 at the time of writing, and had but a seventh grade education. You will have to buy, beg, borrow or steal the book to find out what became of her. And although I don't think I will be using her recipes for turtle soups or stews myself, I really enjoyed the reading of it. I really found some great things in there, for all that she might take back, there is plenty that is left behind of value.  Her quotes show that her time spent "improving her mind" paid off. And reading it, has also improved mine as well.
This book was thought provoking for me, and led my imagination into another world. Her honest nature, and blunt attitude made it more enjoyable, but the truth of her life in those years, was the best gift. A lot of people have lived this way for one reason or another, but not nearly enough choose to share it the way she did.  I would recommend this book, it was really a fun read!

With that, one last quote she shared, that leaves me with hope for how we choose to change our own lives"

Mark Twain's definition of work: "that which you do when you would rather be doing something else"
By definition, you could indeed, not work, so long as you did what you love. And that is different for each individual, but the principle is the same for all.

Playing Catch-up

I really don't have the amount of time on my hands that I used to. Writing on the blog is harder now than ever with so many obligations. I think it is funny how striving for a simpler life can get so complicated. Progress on the new house is a bit slow, but we did get the concrete poured in the garage over the weekend. Our plans to rent backhoe and dig in the geothermal and septic will be held off because of permitting. My husband has to take a class on septic systems in order to be allowed to install it himself.  the class is not offered until late October, which really sets our schedule back. So in order to not lose too much time, we will have to concentrate on other projects that also need addressing before the weather breaks, and turns bitter cold. I have been praying for fall to set in, the weather is so lovely to work in, but now I feel like maybe it will come too soon. It is not that we have to have any of it done by a certain date, but we are all in a hurry to get it done, for the sake of sanity and simplicity. we all just want to move to the country!
Yesterday, as I sat on the back porch I saw two pairs of mating hawks, circling and diving with each other and calling out...it was really nice to watch them. I then decided that perhaps I could get a better view of the back field from my upstairs bedroom window, and instead I saw a flock of 10 turkeys, walking around, heads down.  searching for food. There are a lot of Oak trees in the small area and they were munching acorns and grains and oblivious that I was following them....well, until I had to make a scene swatting mosquitoes! They were so viscous!
I really enjoyed the experience, and the quiet...but it made me feel discontent with our situation. The helpless feeling of being on a schedule that is not your own. I am willing to set to any task, if it leads to my goals, and at present, I don't feel like I have a task!
In town, there is much to do. Much that I should be doing right now, too. There are dishes, and laundry, as usual...there is bread to toast into crumbs, dinner to plan for tonight, and the budget to go over and over, how to save a dime here, pinch a penny there, to make it all work. there is that lingering guilt that I should have a job, even though I don't have the time, and would likely not have the energy. But I will be working soon! Not only have I recently become manager to our new property and a landlord, but I also have some budding business schemes to help us to pay the rent. We are rolling over the ideas in our heads and trying to decide the best ways to make a profit that will sustain us. We can't make back enough on renting out our house to pay all the bills. And Mick can work in town for now, but eventually we will need to make a decision on what is going to be the end product, what is the end result, what is the clear career choice for us both?
Farming is obviously still my goal. Sustainability is a HUGE word and a goal that is hard to attain in modern times. Is it really possible to grow and gather all that a family needs to survive? I feel like that could become stressful, very quickly. But what are the best ways of slowly implementing this into our daily lives? How can we slowly creep towards self sufficient life??? It takes more than reading a few books on the topic, and planning spring, summer, and fall gardens. It takes more than buying canning supplies and a dehydrator to save food for an entire winter. And can it be done in today's modern age? Can I do it, with my limited time? And resources? What are the best first crops to try, that will work well on the land I already have?  Will my failures on the small scale equate to lessons that will hold valuable in the long run? Will it help me become a real farmer???

I know I have outlined and re-outlined, in daydream fashion the steps I would take if I acquired a farm. And now I have. So what is next?
This is what I hope for:

1. Build a coop and raise some chickens for egg laying. Learn as much as possible about raising poultry and taking care of them well, organically
2. build or buy a beehive (skip). Learn as much as possible about raising bees, and harvesting honey. Learn how best to store the honey and beeswax.
3. Plant crops that are good forage for both bees and chickens. Plan rotational grazing for the chickens, and develop a plan to encourage nectar in all cropping plans. Plan for weather considerations for both.
4. Begin cover cropping new ground. Plant green manures or compost on fresh sites, and begin first, a vegetable garden for us, and also some field crops for sale, or storage on a larger scale than in our personal plot. Hops, Strawberries and Asparagus I think are obvious first choices, as well as brambles like black berries, raspberries, loganberries, dew berries, and some natives like gooseberries and elderberries. Begin laying out a vineyard. Learn as much as possible about harvest and storage of small fruits. Learn to make wine (for personal consumption), juice, jam and jelly (for storage).
5. Learn more about field grains. Incorporate their growth into crop rotation, green manuring practice but also, try harvesting the grain, if even just by hand with a scythe. Our property is not so large that we can't do it manually, if divided well.
6. Begin to coppice existing trees, and begin to plant more. Hardwoods, nuts and fruit trees. Plan to involve natural conditions for later spawning mushrooms in the shade of the "woods". Harvest, cut and stack fallen tree limbs for fire wood. Use a woodburning stove, and keep harvests small and sustainable.
7. continue to plan for more planting each year until we are able to grow more than enough food for seasonal eating and storage. ( I feel this one will take some time to master)

The best I can figure, I can start on a few tiny projects at the new place, but in all honesty, I feel it is better to continue to grow as much here in town as possible. I would rather not have to transport my harvests, or to further complicate outdoor activity at the new place, for now.....but there are a few things I could get a head start on, for now...

more soon, I hope! :)

Carpenter ants

Well, I am back again today! After my update post, I had some research to do because I found that there were swarms of flying ants hovering around some of the windows of the new house. I knew that wasn't a good thing, but didn't know what to do.

 I did the wrong thing! I should have googled it, before taking action. I instead, went to CHC Do it Best home center and bought a gallon of insecticide.  I had seen some ants in the house before but on Wednesday and Thursday we had torrential downpours and the sheer number of winged ants was dismaying and scary. One even bit me, when trying to crank open the window! :(
So I hosed them, good old american overindulgence...I sprayed every damn ant I saw!!! I don't want them to eat my home from the inside out before I even have a chance to move in! Dumb Bunny! I should have followed my gut instinct that there was a better way and better tool for the job.
Diotamaceous earth is an organic substance comprised of a fossilized coral or something and acts as a dessicant, drying the insects bodies out, or in the case of soft bodied insects such as slugs or aphids, it will tear holes in their crawly little bodies and kill them.  (thank God I am not a Buddhist, eh?)
Anyways....folly of my thinking, now I have no clue where the main nest is, and if the poison acts as a deterrent, I may never find out....Baits are the way to go...and some homespun concoctions of sugar/borax water will suffice, but any combination of sweets and protein should draw them in, although many things would suffice, now that I have read a bit, I am confident in my new approach....
Carpenter Ants like sweets, even when it is not real sugar. I have been telling friends and family since I was 9 that nutrasweet and Fake sugars are BAD FOR YOU. And cause cancer, and God didn't want you to put it in your tea! I don't even like splenda, to be quite honest, but perhaps if I had a weight problem I would feel differently...but I don't like the fizzle it makes when it hits my coffee, as if I added baking soda or pop rocks to it. So I came across the information to back it up, and I didn't really read it all, because I guess I was smart enough to know from the git go that I prefer to eat the fruit of the earth and not that of a test tube or petri dish...but to each his own....some folks just trust that the soda pop companies and manufacturers have their best interest at heart. I on the other hand have always been leary of anything that sounds to good to be true....there is a reason that phrase is so catchy! ;)
I only read enough to know that I will continue to not use the products for my consumption, or my families...and I would sure love to try killing something with it to prove my point! LOL :)
Now that I have screwed it up for myself {ah, what was I saying in the last post about learning from utter failure? As Always! :)} I will have to see if they reestablish themselves in the house, and follow them to their nest so I can find the main colony.
From what I read (I really didn't expect anyone to read all those links, now!) These winged swarms are essentially new kings and queens of mayhem and destruction, and come from a parent colony...their job and destiny, as will all living things, is to get laid, and to find a new home...or maybe find a new home, and then get laid....EITHER WAY....Both male and female can have wings, the males, as always seems to be their misfortune, are expendable, and die shortly after mating....the female, however, is broken free from her wings, and doomed to domestic life...when her wings fall off, she turns into a house wife, burrows a hole into my pretty little house, and closes the "door" with a pile of sawdust, to lay and hatch a BAGILLION eggs inside the comfort of my slightly moist, but still sound joists and rafters (little *&^%$#@#$%^^%%^$%^&*ers)
She will make all flavors of babies, including more queens to colonize some more, but the heirarchy was pretty interesting. Two types of workers and differing sizes of winged creatures, and great drawings (as if I care to know this, but now I do) of the body types, one hump or two.
It was pretty cut and dry for me at this point that this is a serious very naughty problem, and only God knows how long they have been at it here......Just another one of those lovely little presents left behind by the former owner, who obviously was "on top of their game" in the respect of taking care of their business, bless their hearts, I hope they figure it out someday....but now,it is my burden, and so help me if I will allow them to do any more damage to my dreams! I will sort it out just like any other hurdle, obstacle or obstruction to my path to happy! A colony of house eating insects will not ruin my plans! Never! Not so long as I can fight!
I hope you are enjoying my narrative, here, because I am having fun, but suffice to say, my solution is to put away the nuclear holocaust for a moment, and resort to an easier method...I will offer both moistened sugar/borax paste, which is the old school poison...then also I would like to try to kill them with equal....In many sites I visited today, it said to give them a choice between the commercial varieties offered, and they will develop a preference. So I will do the same from home-made. I may incorporate honey and borax as well, seeing how they may prefer the more organic choice as much as a modern human would....But the concept of killing them with something that is supposed to be fit for human consumption is intriguing because I know that my inlaws use it all the time, and I have wished for them to stop. I am unsure that even if this works as well as the website proclaims, that they will stop their habit of fake sugar,and instead take up jogging ....and drinking plain water...but it is worth the proof to myself in any case, and if effective, it is just good to know!

Anyways, if it works, I will try to post again....as proof!

Breaking Ground

Normally on new construction you "break ground", but because the new house is already framed in, the ground is "broke" BUT.....this week marks the beginning of construction for us. We are starting our work in the garage now. We have our gravel delivered already, and are planning to have it spread by the end of this weekend. By next weekend we hope to have the concrete poured and the floor finished, then the doors delivered and installed.  I am hoping to be able to clear out all the materials from inside the house and have them neatly organized in the garage for our base of operations, and be better able to move about the house, when the time comes.
Now we are trying to line up and plan for the outside work with the backhoe and installing our geothermal HVAC system. I am very excited about going green in that respect, and hope it pays for itself over the years, as promised.  I really would love to be net zero someday, and this is our first step in that direction.  As soon as the garage is complete, we are renting the machines to dig trenches and holes for the geo, the septic, and the water lines and gas lines ....and installing the thousands of feet of pipe to make it all function properly. The plan is to get all this outside work complete before the weather shifts, usually in October, but sometimes earlier.
The Ozarks is very prone to flooding, as we have found out over the last few days! The highway coming in to our place is completely flooded and is an "at your own risk" situation coming in. I have found at least one road to the east that is on higher ground, but have yet to find the southern path in that is above the water table in times like these. I must cross 2-3 flooded roads to get my daughter to Pre-K, and I think I see a bus in her future! :)

As for the property itself, the water seems to really only collect a lot at the bottom of left field...which is GREAT! In comparison to our current house, that is literally underwater during flash floods, this will be a huge relief from that. We can hole up in our house, without much worry of being washed away or constantly worrying about the sump pump and if it is on or not. (speaking of, I better go start it!)

My garden here in town is still in full production. The kentucky wonder pole beans were so tough for eating green I have decided to let them go, and shell them.  My tomatoes are still producing, and ripening, but many have shown signs of blossom end rot, and I have to throw them in the compost.  I planted some more bush beans, not too long ago, and we will see if they make it....with the weather staying like it is, which means, changing everyday, it is hard to say if I will harvest anything from that sowing, but I figure it was worth the effort, since the seeds are still fresh, and it is yet another opportunity to see what works or why it doesn't. Funny how failures become so valuable...but let's hope that I get SOME harvest before the cold weather.

Trapping season will be starting soon, for my falconry. So keep a watch in October for my other blog, Dust of Snow, to see if I catch a Redtail, and if it catches any bunnies!

I have been hard at work both in Springfield and Rogersville, trying to keep up with 3 houses is a real chore. But with my split schedule, I am able to prioritize and use my time more wisely than before, and have been spending much less time being idle, and getting things done. It is so exciting for my daughter to have started school this year, and I am so proud of her for her efforts. My son, too, is excelling and becoming more responsible now that he is an upper level elementary student, I hope that he values the goal setting and uses his new skills to his advantage. I may be transerring him soon, if work continues to progress at a fast pace...and I truly hope that it does. I would love nothing more than to move by Christmas, but if not, I would love to be in before spring!  I can hope for it, but not bank on it, as there is so much to do!

We WILL do all we can as fast as we can and get this project going at a steady pace. Our first month's labor is fully planned I believe and can be accomplished in the time frame we are setting. I am very very very excited to be starting. It is funny how much hard labor can get you excited, and how all the little sacrifices, like skimping on the food budget and all extras can really pay in the end. how little I miss the extra channels on TV, and would be just as happy to be out of contract with "Dish" than to watch tv at all! I could care less about entertainment, because I can't wait to sit on my porch swing and watch the birds and listen to the cows moo...and boy do they!

In other news, the Hedgpeth's have put the roof back on their barn, and I am excited for them, even though I have ever met them! I had hoped that I would have a chance to stop in, and introduce myself as a new neighbor....They named my street, after all, and probably used to own my land, and everyone's around us.
We are also nearby neighbors to people that work for the  Rocking Z ranch, who often supplies fresh farm raised beef for the restaurant that my FIL works for. I think their ranch is located elsewhere, but I see their trailer, and think they must be in association with them. That is exciting, because I hope to someday be able to afford to buy a full cow's worth of beef and grind my own burgers, etc.  I love the idea of local foods, as we know from my previous posts, and I feel like the luckiest woman in the world to be moving right into the heart of farmland, and in the area of so many old time farmers that have been in the industry of raising food for generations. I only hope that some one will adopt me as their apprentice and mentor me in the ways of doing it the old fashioned way.
As most rural families will attest, the simple life is pretty complicated, but all that sweat of the brow pays dividends in character and the warm fuzzy feeling of taking care of yourself. I really am in love with my life today.  As I drive to the new place, my eyes fill with happy tears of gratitude and love. Appreciation and thankfulness...I am blessed. So very blessed. Thank you lord for allowing me the opportunity to live my dream. Thank you lord for the strength to make this happen for us, the chance to try, the gift that has been granted to us, to do this, the life that is ever changing because of it....I am in awe of life. And some days I tell myself, that I have never been so happy to be alive as I am now. Even on a bad day, I think to myself...you now have everything you have ever wanted, you are the luckiest person in the world...don't let anything change that. Don't let your attitude be the cause of your demise....instead, change your outlook about a drawback, learn what you can, and plan better in the future...and I promise, Lord, that is what I will try to do. Everyday for the rest of my life...I will make the best of each minute of each day, and try to appreciate all you have afforded me, and all that we have created for ourselves. I have to give us a little credit, too....as none of this would be possible while sitting idly by watching life happen.

Carpe Diem!