MTBar Farm

This Blog Has Moved

2010-07-02T10:53:00.000-04:00

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Reviews from Happy Hour with the Kids

2010-07-01T08:13:00.000-04:00

In part, I feel like I'm getting ready to out an old friend and in a way, really, I am. But it needs to be said and so I'll be the one to step up and do it...

Yesterday I made plans for my 18 year old son to hang out with his little sister so that I could meet my hubby and the two 21+ children for happy hour. I really wanted some face time with my oldest son and some adult time, with adult conversation with my oldest daughter. I really just wanted Mark to be there because it would have been so much less fun if he couldn't gross the kids out by making sexual comments now and then.

So, we decided to meet up at Jerry's of Chesapeake. My daughter and I went in and ordered and the ladies who own the place had been so accommodating as to order Woodchuck Cider for us! We were pretty happy and set about drinking them and chatting away. The table where we sat was by the window and so dusty that Eli had to break a hanky out of her purse so that we could dust it. As we talked nachos or cheese pizza we started noticing the dead spiders, the dust bunnies and the window shades that were coated with old nicotine and sticky substances and dirt.

We couldn't do it. We have tried and tried to hang out at Jerry's, partly because it used to be a great, lively place where all the Indian River folks went to have a few or to really tie one on. But back then it was clean. I know. I worked there. Believe me when I tell you that I scrubbed walls, windows and the feet of the tables and chairs when business was slow. It seems apparent to me that no one does that now.

I love that little bar and one of the owners seems committed to good customer service but it's not enough. They need to break out the Spic and Span. Seriously.

Eli and I left our brews half full. I texted Randall a warning and we left. The guys were waiting in the parking lot. We decided to go to Wickers because it's close and clean and we like the owners and the crabs. As always, Wickers Patio was clean and neat and the service was quick and good. The crab pot has a great beverage selection, including enough good wines to keep me happy. It's a great little local spot, owned by local people who fish the local waters to provide the crabs they sell.

All of that is hard to beat. We ordered appetizers- jalapeno poppers (obviously not local!) and crab dip. I'm always just a little disappointed in the food when we eat there. Even the crab dip was just okay--a little too fishy, a little too soupy, supremely edible but not delicious.

The patio is great, the weather was breezy and not too hot, so we all chatted it up making snarky comments about anything we wanted to because there were no 8 year old ears soaking up every word. It was great. Eventually, Randall had to take off for a birthday party and the rest of us decided on downtown Norfolk.

It took some doing but we convinced Mark to go to The Boot, a local restaurant known for a commitment to feeding customers locally and ethically. Eli and I are all about that. Mark is all about meat. They have that there.

The service was excellent, our waitress was helpful and available and the food was delicious. I had soup, Eli had a salad of local tomatoes, basil and mozzarella which was colorful and delicious. Mark had Eastern Shore Little Neck clams in some sort of broth or sauce. I didn't pay much attention because clams get stuck in my teeth so I don't eat them.

The Boot had a draft beer special going on, so Eli ordered a Star Hill 'The Love' a Hefeweisen. Mark ordered Blue Mount Evil (here is a link to review), a dark and delicious number that made me regret my glass of house red.

As I got out my card to pay our bill, Mark was complaining about how he detests The Boot. I asked him why and all he could come up with was the pricy-ness...then he saw that the bill was $25.00 less than the bill at the crab pot and he decided that The Boot is a fine establishment after all.

We weren't quite ready to go home yet, so we moved on to The Taphouse. (I can't find a web page for them.) The Taphouse is a local legend and probably the best place for a pint in Norfolk. Eli gave us a brief tutorial on a few new Urban Dictionary definitions: chili dog and rusty trombone. Look them up if you're interested...

We each ordered a pint and we shared a plate of veggie frito pie. I don't think there were any Fritos in there though there were some chips. We sat on the deck and sipped our beers and talked smack and probably offended everyone within hearing range. Again, the service was excellent and the food decent. I'm hoping the kitchen is cleaner than the bathrooms, which looked clean but smelled strongly of urine. Certainly not the worst bar bathroom I've ever been in.

Of all of these places our favorite was The Taphouse. It got a we will definitely have to come back here from all three of us.

When Reality and Wants Collide

2010-06-29T15:16:00.000-04:00

Recently someone said something to me to the effect of, "The more things you have, the more weighed down you are." No shit. The conversation was in regards to our house and pool as they relate to life in general.

We are lucky to have a pool, right? If you're reading this, you probably read the post about how the pool came to be and why we are in possession of a 38 year old gunnite beauty that holds 55,000 gallons of water. That's right, fifty five thousand gallons. And it has been leaking. A lot.

The leak has been around for years, growing worse each year and costing more in dollars, water and environmental damage. At start up my big plan was to switch it over to a salt water system and dump all our dollars in that hole but it quickly became obvious that we had another hole that needed to be found and filled, the one the water was leaking out of.

For those of you who don't live in Chesapeake, VA, let it be known that our municipal water fees are astronomical. We run several buildings off of our meter: our home; our barn; a rental maintenance shop; my nephew's home. Still? We shouldn't have to pay $400 for each bi-monthly bill to keep all of us clean, the toilets flushed and the horses watered. Seriously. But we do.

Would you want to add filling a pool as large as ours which is leaking out about 3" of water per day? No? Me either. So we dumped our dollars into that hole and the holes in the concrete patio around the pool which had delaminated and was dangerous to walk on, not to mention ugly.

Sadly, we only realized how bad the leak was AFTER the concrete work had begun. It has taken us weeks to get to the bottom (heh) of the leak problem but I'm hopeful that we have plugged it as of today.

We had a kid with what amounts to a gigantic stethoscope wander all around the pool and tell us that someone was singing opera close by. (Travis? Shhhhh! ;-) He couldn't find anything. Then we wait, wait, wait for another company recommended by the young man with the giant stethoscope. They come and tell us there's not enough water in the pool for them to dive and that they don't care that we can't run the pump with so little water in there, it has to be cleaned and filled to mid-tile before they can do their work. Fine.

So we, and by we I mean Mark and the kids but mostly Mark, cleaned and filled the pool. Today they came out and dove. We had a hole the size of a quarter in one of the bottom returns and a leak in a skimmer, both of which the lovely, lovely men from American Leak Detection repaired. We are hopeful that this is the end of the leak and that we can now enjoy the chlorine-infested waters for the rest of the summer with no further drama.

We'll retile and make 'er salty next year, when have money again.

Note: I highly recommend American Leak Detection's local store. Despite my whining about how long we waited, in reality it was only a couple of days. They were professional, competent and johnny-on-the-spot.

Somtimes Writing About It Makes It Seem Better

2010-06-29T07:52:00.001-04:00

The players:

The dogs, Jasmine and Thunder.

Me.

Two unknown women and their tiny little doggies.

The location:

Our driveway.

The story:

This morning I woke up and went to let the dogs out. There were two women walking their dogs down my driveway. That driveway up there in the picture. It leads to our backyard which is surrounded by river and marsh and the rest of our yard.

Looking at the picture perhaps it seems obvious that it is a driveway and not a road leading traffic 3' outside our bedroom window. But people walk down our driveway all of the time. They end up in our backyard or herb garden tromping around.

So why do I feel like an inhospitable bitch when I ask them to leave so that I can let my own dogs out in my yard to run and potty at 7:00 am?

Sweet Tomato Salad Dressing

2010-06-26T09:46:00.000-04:00

No pic, sorry, but this was too good to forget when I tossed it together a few nights ago. It was perfect on our salad fresh from the garden.

1 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tbsp maple syrup
3/4 cup olive oil
salt
pepper
a handful of chopped basil
a squeeze of one entire lemon

Whisk it all together in a bowl and serve over a green salad or as a condiment for grilled chicken.

Reno's Continue

2010-06-22T08:53:00.000-04:00

We spent the weekend mysteriously without kitchen lights. It was okay because it's midsummer and the light doesn't leave until late.

The bathroom floor has been replaced (and the piers and joists) and now the boys are framing in the closet, formerly known as The Alcove. This will mean less light in the kitchen but I'm willing to sacrifice in order to have a closet in my bedroom. Seriously, we didn't have one before.

I'm going to miss the old lathes in the walls. In fact, I wish I could find some old fashioned lathe men to come and redo the walls the way they were with plaster, which will hold a nail and not with drywall, which will barely hold itself. Things don't work out that way unfortunately, mainly because we can't afford for them to and so drywall it is.

What are we doing to 'green' our reno? Reusing the toilet and sink and fixtures. Reusing the light fixtures. When the boys tore out my grandmother's old cedar closet from the bathroom, they saved most of the wood and Travis made a sweet trunk out of it. I'm cruising Craig's list for used bath tubs and shower stalls but finding used items that fit our exact specs is proving difficult, so we will probably end up buying new. The biggest thing we're doing is making sure to take care of every problem spot we run into so that the house can be around for the next 4 generations of our family to live in.

Father's Day

2010-06-22T08:43:00.000-04:00

Who knew the pool lounger came complete with THE GIRL!?

Thunder

2010-06-15T07:38:00.000-04:00

This is our professional dog bathing setup. Notice the underpaid workers? The raised tub? The sad looking, wet dog?

Uh-oh, I think maybe one of the workers is getting smart with the photographer! It's a good thing the short person managed to maintain focus and hang onto the dog. Speaking of the dog, that's Thunder and look at his expression. I don't believe he enjoys his baths very much. I maintain, however, that they are better than fleas.

This could be an ad for dog shampoo, except for the look on Thunder's face. And the knee. I can see how the knee might be an issue in the ad campaign. But wait! You kneed this dog shampoo! Never mind, we'll keep the knee.

Thunder is going to spend his consumer dollars on dog biscuits. They make him smile.

Eli and Payday

2010-06-14T07:30:00.000-04:00

A few days ago my daughter and her friend decided to go horseback riding. Eli wanted to ride Wind, the pony, but he'd already had a hard workout that day so she rode my 26 year old quarter horse and her friend rode Misty, the husband horse.

Isn't she cute? Blurry, but cute.

Our House is a very, very

2010-06-13T07:30:00.003-04:00

very old house, with a big hole in the floor.

This used to be our master bathroom. Now it's the Grand Canyon of Four Oaks.

Okay, I'll stop being corny. We're doing renovations. Part of our house is old and being old has a few...issues. Which we're fixing. Which is why our bed is in the living room and which is also why our kitchen has a wall made of Glad Wrap.

This is the before and after set...or rather the 'after' and 'before'...

on the left is what the rooms look like right now with no wall in between and on the right is what the alcove looked like when there was a wall between it and our bathroom. Sometimes making progress seems to make things go in reverse!

The Pool

2010-06-12T06:00:00.001-04:00

For many years our house was a ladies health spa. This was back in the 1970's and 80's when women and men still mostly segregated themselves for exercise. One of the lessors of the health spa decided to put in a swimming pool, on the leased property, and did. Today we are the proud owners of a 38 year old, 55,000 gallon, gunnite beauty. Compliments of that health spa manager whose business decisions may or may not have been the best.

For some reason I don't have any 'before' photos of the pool. Let's just say it was green and that the decking was also green...or at least several shades darker than it is now.

Every year cleaning the pool is a chore no one looks forward to but everyone pitches in on because it is the only means to an end. The green water gets pumped out, the leaves and debris are removed by shovel, pitchfork and wheelbarrow. The inside is pressure washed. The water is, again, pumped out. Then the whole thing gets a coat of new paint.

This year, Mark and Randall caulked up the skimmers and tiles because the pool was reputedly leaking. It doesn't appear to be leaking now but it's only been filled for a day so we'll see. We're having the decking redone--not completely but the delaminated portions will be repaired, the whole thing will receive a new coat of concrete and then a colored skim coat. I have to see samples of the colors in real life before I can choose a color but I'm leaning toward a light copper color.

We have repairs to make, things to figure out, but the mere fact that we are so blessed to live in this place is amazing. The pool? That's the cherry.

Dear July 4th: We Won

2010-06-11T18:46:00.000-04:00

Old Wives Tale: You are one of the few and blessed if you find a ripe tomato in your garden before the 4th of July.
Today, we found (and ate) two. We also have fresh chard and other greens and few peppers in the pot for supper.

Our Garden, May 2010

2010-06-02T06:05:00.000-04:00

close up of pole bean seedlings against the trellis of cattle panels and the clover in the walkways

We tried for six years in NC to grow a good garden. I don't know if was us or the heat or what but we never were able to top our gardens here at Four Oaks. I suspect it was us, as much as the soil, which we amended and healed in our years there. Gardening on a windy river bank in the mottled shade of century old pecans and poplars has a fairy tale quality that spoils one for gardening in the harsh sun of Cackalacky cotton country.

clover in the walkways, bush beans mulched with newsprint and straw, pole bean and cuke trellis, potato bed to the left looking like straw.

We started out trying to involved the homeschooling community and things were going fine until atomic level events hit both our co-gardening families and forced them to pull out in order to deal with live outside the garden. So here we are, left with this huge space all to ourselves. Mark is happier than a pig in shit.

Sundays at Five

2010-06-01T06:00:00.001-04:00

Sunday supper,

Our kids are growing up. One lives on his own, another with her mother. Both are within a short drive though and so I decided to try and institute an every Sunday family meal so that we all get a bit of face time and the time to connect, catch up and stay caught up. Hence, Sundays at Five.

Kitchen table.

After consulting with the kids, this is the best time on Sundays to eat. Sunday is not a party night. Sunday does have standing band practices and, for another, Dungeons and Dragons, so we aim to please and most of the time most of the kids show up.

L to R: Martina, Randall, Elizabeth

On Sunday morning I send out a reminder text to the kids, a few of whom walk into the living room from the other end of the house laughing that I would text them from a room away. I'm hoping that the lure of free food will turn into a habit that will carry into marriages and children all gathering at my house on Sunday afternoons a la 'Soul Food.' So far so good.

Mark and his one true love, a big slab of meat. (He *is* reaching for the salad, much to my delight.)

Bathroom Remodel

2010-05-31T08:51:00.001-04:00

The sink. I took this post-floor-rip-out, so it's filthy but you can see it, the mirror, the tile, the very tall radiator and the Very Ugly wallpaper.

Ever since we moved back here to my Grandfather's old home there have been a few noticeable problems. Nothing unexpected in a home that's nearly 100 years old but problems, nonetheless. For one, the toilet wasn't seated properly and therefore oozed a thin line of crap (and by crap, I mean feces) that needed wiping up fairly often. It was utterly disgusting and I finally had a breakdown and told Mark, "You say you're going to fix it. FIX IT then or I'm calling a plumber tomorrow morning and I'll have it fixed by tomorrow night."

He took the afternoon off of work and came home with the plan of replacing the wax ring seal on the toilet but what he found was that under our house all of the wood had rotted away and the toilet was being held up by concrete flooring and floor tile. I'm very happy that I did not end up sitting in the mud under there, potty reading in hand and a shocked look on my face.

So the toilet is gone. So is the sink, the tub and most of the bathroom floor. My grandmother's cedar closet is on it's way out, too. But there is good news! We get a new bathtub and shower stall, separate units because sans closet we suddenly have room for them. This will make for easier cleaning of both. We will also be turning 'Martina's alcove' into a walk-in closet where we will be able to hang our clothing and I can have a dressing table in front of two windows where I can dress and put on makeup (when I wear it) using natural light (provided it's daytime!)

This is exciting news because if you've ever lived in an old house you know there just isn't much closet space. We like to have much more clothing these days than folks did back then, apparently.

We will reuse the toilet and the sink and fixtures. We have also saved the wall hooks for reuse. Whatever can be salvaged from the cedar closet will go to my son's woodworking shop for him to use in toy making. This is such a startling and necessary remodel project than finding ways to make it green is going to be a challenge...but I'm working on it.

Below are pics, though I don't have any of the bathtub. It was white porcelain and about 62" long. The ends were square to the bottom and this made it impossible to recline for a leisurely bath with a book. I look forward to the day I can soak my arthritic neck in a hot tub of water and am hoping that it will be soon!

Here we have the window on the back/eastern wall. Frame will be replaced as part of the remodel. The toilet was and will be again, just under the window. Tub is to the right.

The old cedar closet, deep and narrow with nary a place to hang a dress.

This is what was behind the shower. Now that it's exposed my chest closes up when I get near it.

That post is the original corner of the cedar closet, now all gone except for one wall. I'd love to leave it but because our shower will go there, we have to have concrete board.

The floor. This is one of the minor holes which was in front of the sink. Under the bathtub was about 1/3 rotted away and under the toilet there was no wood at all.

This Time Last Year

2010-05-22T08:13:00.000-04:00

A Weekend Staycation

2010-05-21T09:30:00.000-04:00

Lately I've got an itch to travel but we don't have much cash to scratch it with. Instead I decided to take a 'Staycation' last weekend.

Our staycation began on Friday. Travis, Martina and I went to The Baker's Crust on 21st St in Norfolk for lunch. I treated us to a lovely Crepe Diablotine for dessert-strawberries, chocolate mousse, whipped cream and white and dark chocolate sauce. mmmm. Then we went to the White Rabbit and the Wild Hair where Martina got a summer wardrobe for $60 and Travis a tuxedo for $28. I bought a skirt and two Vera Bradleys for less than $20.

Off to Jake's Place for a cut for Travis who was in desperate need of it.

Eventually we met up with Mark and Eli at Norfolk's famed Greek Fest on Granby Street. Unfortunately we picked the worst time to show up and the crowds were so, um, crowded that moving was a problem and getting food was out of the question. We removed to Fellini's on Colley for an extremely expensive, exceptionally mediocre meal. Then off to home.

Saturday had us sleeping in before a good breakfast and a visit to the Stockley Gardens Art Festival. We had a great time perusing the art work there. There were several items that I would have loved to bring home but the same issue which precluded a vacation stood between me and the paintings, lovely leaded glass hangings, ceramics and candle houses. We did manage to sneak in an orangeade and some ice cream.

We arrived at home in time to practice driving my father's Deusenberg in anticipation of chauffeuring Travis and his date to her high school prom. Martina and I dressed up for the occasion and off we went, having a ball in the awesome old car right up until we ran out of gas just short of picking up Travis' date. In my defense, the gas gauge doesn't work and my father's maintenance man promised that he had filled the tank just before dropping it off in Dad's garage.) Thanks to my husband, who rescued us in his truck we got: boy to girl; girl to dinner and prom; car to Dad's garage via tow truck; gas in car.

The jokes were flying about the truck limo on the way to our house where Travis just took my van for the rest of the evening. Not much point in being chauffeured in a black F-250.

Sunday was a lazy day at home. We sat on the porch. We sat on the couch. We looked at the garden. We watched tv. We talked. We sat in the yard. What, after all, is a vacation without a down day?

All-in-all our staycation was a great success. Still? I'm hopeful about St. Johns, our next slated trip but an actual VAcation.

This picture is so weird

2010-05-13T08:55:00.000-04:00

I keep looking at it and looking at it. No, I wasn't about to elbow Martina in the face and somehow I actually avoided doing that, but really? Looking at it, I can't figure out what really was going on but I can tell by the look on Martina's face that she never suspected what a close call it was.
All my friends who take karate, jiu jitsu and kung fu had better be careful...I'm a natural.

Facebook.

2010-05-11T18:16:00.000-04:00

Fuck
a little social networking can become
concentrated obsession
except on those days I wake up and
back off,
overwhelmed
overwrought by the drama, the bullshit, the ADD induced by something that's for
kids.

Seriously? I am sitting here trying to figure out exactly what Facebook has done to enrich my life. It has put me into contact with some folks I had lost track of. That's nice. Mostly. It has also sucked more hours that I should dedicate to any online pursuit and honestly, if I were going to be rational about what to do with my online hours Runescape would be a better choice. Not so much drama, similar social networking opportunities and it's fun.
I'm thinking of deleting my FB account...not that you can, you can only suspend it but still. Why do I care what some person I only peripherally know did with her sick dog yesterday?
Does anyone have any wonderful thoughts about this? What has Facebook done to enrich your life? Why should I keep my account? Really.

Father Goose

2010-05-10T14:40:00.000-04:00

Mark holding Clover while she takes a nap.

Derby Day Salon

2010-05-07T09:10:00.001-04:00

Homeschoolers do not have the performance options that traditionally schooled children do. We don't have recorder concerts or magic nights or school plays, unless we are members of a great cooperative. We homeschoolers have to be creative in order to give our kids performance opportunities. Some take their children to acting classes or ballet lessons or music lesson where the recital or play is the goal. Some of us don't do those things but are fortunate enough to 1. have creative friends with great ideas and 2. be smart enough to copy said friend's ideas and unabashedly ask questions on how it all works. So, I held a Derby Day Salon.
This event was graced by the presence of several homeschooled children ranging in age from 6 through 18 years of age. We had violinists, even a violin duet! We had pianists. We had rock and rollers and we had an opera solo. Great fun and greatly talented children.

We also had hats. This was, after all, a Derby Day Salon and once the children finished their performances, we moved right into eating, drinking mint juleps and gambling on horses and hats. Following is a slide show of our fancy pants hats and few other pictures of the attendees.

Those Crazy Neighbors of Mine

2010-05-05T20:50:00.000-04:00

A Canada goose and a Great White Egret roosting on opposite posts on my nieces pier.

Bloody Mary, A Recipe fit for a Queen

2010-05-04T17:38:00.000-04:00

This is easy. So easy. By easy I do not mean healthy but it's an alcoholic beverage, so who would think that anyway?
Recipe? Here it is:
1 cup Clamato
1 oz Absolut Mandarin vodka
4 dashes tobasco (don't be a wimp!)
dash of worcestershire sauce
1 shake of garlic powder
1 shake of onion powder
a grind of black pepper
a few drops of lemon juice
a celery stalk

Mix ingredients and pour over ice. Insert celery stalk. Enjoy.

Derby Day Hat

2010-05-03T10:22:00.000-04:00

Just a few photos of my Derby Day hat. I found one online that I loved but knew I could never afford. Instead, I bought this hat, ripped off the decorations and added my own toile and magnolias. The additions came from Michael's where they had plain magnolias for $7.99 and gold dusted magnolias for $15.99. I bought the plain and a $4 jar of glitter. They came out exactly the same =D
Here is the hat modeled by Martina:

Eurasia Cafe and Wine Bar

2010-04-30T11:42:00.000-04:00

Eurasia...one of the most pleasant dining experiences my husband and I have enjoyed in ages.

Last night Mark and I went on a date. Once we left the awful starter restaurant Mark made it clear that he still needed food and lots of it. We decided to head for our old favorite, the Coyote Cafe...only it isn't there any more. I noticed that Eurasia was in the same shopping center and spoke up about how I'd been wanting to eat there, so in we went, then back out to dine on the patio in the cool evening air.

The wait staff was excellent, there when we needed them but not hovering and the food was delicious. We each had an appetizer: Mark had carpaccio; I had tuna two ways. I can't remember what it was called on the menu but yum. Especially the carpaccio. Then we each ordered a dessert. We ordered a very good chocolate torte with raspberry sauce but it was put to shame by the apple fritters with vanilla gelato. Oh. My. God.

We shared a cigar, relaxed, chatted and smiled a lot. Perfect date night, even with the 4 dudes sitting at the other end of the patio, all fat, all smoking cigars, all talking smack about their wives. One, coming back from the bathroom, mentioned how the scenery had gotten older and uglier inside at which point Mark came out with his best one-liner ever, "Those guys really need to look in a mirror." Heh.

Thanks to owner and staff of Eurasia for a great date night! Fully recommended by the two of us for food, atmosphere and service, Eurasia is going to become a regular date night spot for us.

Mahi Mah's

2010-04-30T11:29:00.000-04:00

We had a gift card and so we went, my husband and I, to dine at the locally renowned Mahi Mah's, oceanfront, Virginia Beach.

The valets were adorable, the host staff lovely, our waitress was a doll. Then the food came. Jesus God, the food, if you can call it that, came and the pleasure of watching fit young people and fat middle aged people move along the boardwalk; the beauty of the almost waveless blue ocean lapping the tawny sands; the hilarity of eavesdropping on the conversation at the next table all evaporated.

We shared a beet salad. It was fine, though roasted beets should be somewhat soft and, I think, warm. The cheese bowl was *really* good. That was a base hit. Then I got my broiled seafood platter and Mark his gigantic ribeye steak. The waitress specifically requested "medium rare, more on the rare side," when she sent the order back. What Mark got was medium well. He sent it back and then? The chef sent a waiter back with the same damned steak to tell my husband that it was fine and medium rare! Which, for what it's worth, it wasn't. Medium rare entails a red, warm center and this steak had a warm, slightly pink center but was cooked to gray most of the way through.

Once we managed to close our jaws and had sent the steak back to the kitchen, we continued sharing my mediocre seafood platter. The huge hunk of flounder was flavorless and the shrimp were undercooked. The clincher though, was when I chomped down on a piece of broccoli and it was crunchy. No, I don't mean broccoli crunchy, I mean 'there's something freaky in my mouth' crunchy. When I looked down at my plate and noticed the fifty-cent piece sized pile of mud, it became very clear what I had found so repugnant.

The poor waitress apologized profusely and credited both our meals. We paid for the drinks and salad, left her a $24 tip and hit the road to find some real food. We wound up at Eurasia on Laskin Road. We dined al fresco. Cigar, wine and carpaccio chased by some delicious apple fritters and all of our hungers were quenched. Hallelujah! Post on that coming later.

The world's world blog post. Ever.

2010-04-26T14:31:00.000-04:00

Budding sage.

Golden Scottish moss in the shade garden.

The steps that Travis built.

Still Here. Sort of.

2010-04-15T14:26:00.000-04:00

We've been fighting off allergies and viruses all spring. When the sun shines, we make hay but I'm out of batteries for the camera and too broke to buy new ones and without a photo my desire to blog is limited.

Intuit/Quicken did credit the extra charge back to my checking account finally.

Few of my bloggers seem to be writing anything interesting these days.

Other than Latin, math and reading, we're not hitting the books very hard just now in our homeschool.

We're planting a lot. We're watching the egrets and eagles and hawks and seagulls and ospreys. I saw a pair of mating red tails fall out of a tall pine and into our horse pasture a week or so ago, which was neat. I think they've nested nearby because I can hear someone complaining a lot and it is definitely a bird of prey. In the yard across the marsh there lives one small girl and one nesting Canada goose pair. The girl is a tease. The goose is a bitch. Way better than television.

I found out that given two hours alone I will: wash the dishes; wipe down the counters; finish raking the front yard; ride my horse through the houseboat woods. Delicious.

Tonight we're going to an ODU bar, the Boar's Nest, to watch Headfeather play.

Batteries soon. Promise.

In Which Quicken Steals $75 and Agrees to Return It

2010-04-11T11:42:00.000-04:00

Following is the actual 'copied and pasted' conversation I had with a Quicken agent because they double charged me for financial software. Do they do this to everyone and I'm the only one who cares that the financial software mavens of our society have taken my money? I mean, sure, they say they'll give it back and I assume that this is true but they still will be using my money and, theoretically, the money of thousands of other people, in the interim. I am NOT OKAY WITH THIS. So far as I can tell there's not much I can do on a Sunday afternoon to remedy the situation.

Abhijeet: Welcome to Quicken chat support. My name is Abhijeet. Please give me a moment while I review the info you provided. Bettina Essert: ok Abhijeet: Hi Bettina. Bettina Essert: hi Abhijeet: I have just checked in the records the other charge which you have charged may be a authorization charge ,because in our database it is showing just one charge . Abhijeet: Of $69.99 Bettina Essert: i don't know what to say. Bettina Essert: there are two charges which have cleared my checking account both taken by intuit. Abhijeet: When a purchase is made with a check card, occasionally a merchant will charge an authorization, or hold to your check card to ensure that the funds will be available for payment. Often this amount is larger than the actual purchase, and a credit is later processed. The financial institution allows this transaction to be processed in a statement download. Later, another transaction will download with the correct amount. The authorization amount will be credited back to the account. Bettina Essert: 04/08/2010 5734 INTUIT *18004INTUIT $69.99
04/08/2010 5734 INTUIT *18004INTUIT $75.41 Bettina Essert: so if this is the case, the amount will be replaced when? Bettina Essert: the above was copied from my bank website Abhijeet: Within one two billing cycles . Bettina Essert: both transactions have cleared Bettina Essert: how long is a billing cycle? Abhijeet: I would suggest you to wait for 6 to 7 days if it will come back because in our records it shows just one charge of $69.99
Bettina Essert: so Intuit steals $75 and uses it for a week and then gives it back and I'm supposed to be okay with that? i see a long winded blog post coming about this problem. Thanks for your help.

So perhaps this isn't so long-winded but really? It doesn't need to be.

Great Egret

2010-04-08T15:31:00.000-04:00

Every day this bird (I think it's the same one) visits the marsh behind our house to hunt. I love sitting and watching her stalk, crouch and snap up whatever marsh critters she makes her meals of. She is ungainly but somehow elegant, like a lanky, tall socialite who moves with small physical grace but is entirely captivating in spite of it. I'm going to name her Kathryn Hepburn.

It's Really Beginning to Get On My Nerves

2010-04-07T15:25:00.000-04:00

This week is spring break for our local public school system. This means lots of working parents leave their teenagers at home alone in a practice run for what our summer will shake down like. If this week has been any taste, I will spend the summer asking our local, entitled, middle-class, white teens why they are in my yard or in my horse pasture. Can hardly wait. Not.

Sunday afternoon we came home from my cousin's house. I thought I saw a bird fly into the Rock House. Mark assured me that no, it was people. Indeed. Two teenaged girls who appeared to be a bit stunned that we approached them at all, much less that we were a little put out that they felt free to come into our yard without permission and sit in our, or rather my grandfather's, version of a gazebo. They were polite and they left and assured us they would not come back without asking permission.

Next day? Martina and I were doing school work on the covered bridge and here came the same two girls with a passel of younguns. They blithely trooped right through my niece's front yard and started down the hill to the dam which separates my niece's front yard from my back yard. Then the dogs went after them and they stopped, caught in the act, mouths hanging open. I asked them if they had permission to be in Billinda's yard. Nothing. I told them that if they were headed somewhere on our side of the marsh, crossing private property without permission was a bad plan and that it also took them several blocks out of their way. I did all of this more firmly than I had the day before but without moving, so as to not create hostile or threatening body language. I did not yell, curse or shout but spoke with resolution and authority. In my mind I kept thinking of the little kids these girls had with them and wondering who had trusted their babies to the care of such wobbly personalities.

Eventually they told me that they know my niece and have her permission to go into her yard. They then proceeded to call me (and don't read this if you don't like cussing): a fucking piece of shit cunt. Then they took their passel of 5/6/7 year olds and walked off. My niece does not know them. I asked. Oddly enough, I also asked the girls where they lived when we found them in the Rock House. So.

Yesterday evening Mark and I were preparing to leave for a date. I went to grab my purse and saw 5 people who I don't know walking through my rosemary and lavender, just about 15' outside my kitchen door. Again, one of them was a teenaged girl. Not one of the ones from the Rock House and probably a bit older but nevertheless, she was the one leading these folks through my herbs and my back yard.

Now, pardon the fuck out of me but if I wanted to live in a communal situation I would. And would live there with people who have some respect for other people not with entitled acting punks who are likely to key my van or break a window because I act shocked when they show up in my back yard. When I see strangers who have obviously just walked down my driveway which runs about 3' outside of my bedroom window and into my back yard act as if they are surprised this isn't a public area, I don't know what to say. Back in the day I would have ripped them a new one, verbally and perhaps physically. Now I really would like to spread some goodwill and not do the Run 'Em Off At Gunpoint routine. It's beginning to seem impossible though.

Really. There are some people who come and knock on our front door and ask permission and we have, thus far, always said yes. We're not mean or selfish but we are private and we don't like having strangers wandering around in our yard. It's really beginning to get on my nerves.

This Moment

2010-04-03T08:23:00.001-04:00

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Planting Roses

2010-04-01T11:11:00.000-04:00

Over the weekend I bought two rose varieites, a pink David Austin 'Heritage' and an orange and gold climbing rose called 'Pinata'. I have delusions of grandeur when it comes to the Rock House and Rock Garden in our yard. I want the Rock House to be covered with beautiful, blooming roses. I want the borders to be thick with lavender, rosemary, roses and moss (depending, obviously, on the amount of sunlight). It's going to be a long haul from the briers, saplings and trash we started with to the end point of my fantasy but these roses are a start.
We settled them in with a good water and some aged manure.

We also have several French lavender plants, one of which we transplanted from NC.

I love Spring planting and summer watching as the garden comes to life, grows and sometimes goes wild. I never garden in the heat of summer, so things have to be as prepped as possible during this short season of temperate weather. This year I'm hoping the roses go wild.

Oriental

2010-03-31T09:50:00.002-04:00

Back yard. Yesterday.

That Damned Ken!

2010-03-30T16:55:00.000-04:00

He always looks so danged smug! I'm onto him though. Freak.

(scene from the playroom floor...)

Floor Downstairs, keeping the carpet after all

2010-03-29T10:26:00.001-04:00

We thought we had a concrete refinishing contractor coming to give us an estimate. Four times. I take the flake as a message from God. We are keeping the carpet, despite the disgusting things it has lived through. Either we've gotten used to the smell or it has dissipated. We have to finish moving in and settling into this house. I cannot stand the piles and upheaval any longer. I need my office space.

So, for now, we're keeping the carpet. Eventually, we may take a do it yourself concrete floor refinishing week. Reusing is the greenest choice anyway--we're not sending anything to the landfill; we're reusing; we're not wasting electricity; throwing away paint cans; using chemicals; creating concrete dust; etc.

Still, it feels like we're settling for less than we want. That's okay, too. For now.

Changes in the Garden

2010-03-25T08:58:00.000-04:00

The 'before' picture taken from our kitchen door facing the Rock House. If you really look, you can see the Rock House back there behind the overgrowth, the ugly yellow tank, the weeds and saplings.

Same shot take two days ago. We have spent a good amount of time down there, clearing brush and saplings, cleaning up and clearing out, trimming and pruning. Travis, with his strong back and I, with my eye for layout and bossy attitude even managed to make a set of stairs so my father can safely navigate the hill (not shown in picture). Mark and I went to NC and transplanted rosemary, lavender, oregano, sage, lemon balm and columbine. You can see a few of the more impressive transplants in the photo. My vision is becoming reality. I love this part!

This a gratuitous photo of me which illustrates the kind of week it's been: I. Am. Frazzled.

See the crazy hair? The cigar? The jelly jar of wine clutched tightly in my fist?

Being close to the water helps soothe it all away.

Yesterday

2010-03-24T11:29:00.000-04:00

All of a sudden, yesterday, the marsh turned green. Just a day before it was brown as a fresh loaf.

Interior Photos, Corapeake home for rent

2010-03-21T10:39:00.003-04:00

We have not yet cleaned carpets or painted. Please excuse the spackle ;) Colors will probably change in most rooms as we get them painted in more neutral tones.

Considering a Move

2010-03-20T09:22:00.000-04:00

to Wordpress.

It is simply so much easier to use. Still in the maybe, maybe not phase.

Jamey Johnson. 'Nuff said (well, not really)

2010-03-19T09:32:00.001-04:00

For over a year now I've been trying to figure out a way to see Jamey Johnson play before he moves out of the smaller venues and into the realm of super star and super speedway shows that I will never go to see. Who knows? Maybe his brand of old time twang isn't what the masses want but it was sure one satisfying experience for my husband and me when we finally got to see Jamey play last night at the Norva. My God what a show.

There was no fancy dancing, no jumping around, no histrionics or gymnastics. Jamey and his band walked on stage and they played. They played for about three hours.

Most of us have been to shows where the singer comes on stage and performs poorly. I always hold a bit of my expectation in reserve because I'm afraid my ticket money would have been better spent on an Itunes download and a bottle of wine but last night? Magic. Jamey Johnson's voice is like a shot of ground glass chased with honey. He put on a show that quickly made it my top one favorite concert ever.

My husband was along for the ride, not really expecting to get into it he bought me supper and ferried beers but by the time Jamey sang his big hit, In Color and told us that the part of the show we had paid for was over, Mark was just as mesmerized as I was.

From there on out there were a few originals and many old country and rock covers. Straight, Jones, Bob Seger, Tom T Hall...We were singing along, riding it out on a wave of beer and adrenaline and memories spurred up by the songs. In the end, the audience was sadly flaccid and couldn't manage enough energy for an encore which was the only sour note in the whole show.

*Image thanks to google images and the Washington Post

Bottoms Up!

2010-03-17T13:38:00.000-04:00

Happy St Patrick's Day everyone!

Cutting Away the Dead Wood

2010-03-12T07:53:00.000-05:00

This is what our kitchen dooryard looked like when we moved in.

Step 1 was to move the garbage out from under our bathroom window. WTF?

This picture was taken quite a bit earlier in the day than the next picture, so the light is coming from higher in the sky and the pecan is shading the area (yes, other trees are, too).

Step 2 was cutting down the pecan tree that was there shading the kitchen window, looming over the roof with it's heavy branches. Despite the missing pecan tree (and garbage can) the dooryard is still in shade in this photo. It is much, much better now. More sunshine, more light. It was late afternoon when I took this picture.

Obviously, we (meaning mostly Mark and Travis) have been doing a lot of clearing since we moved back to Four Oaks. The men take down the trees. I am in charge of weeds and saplings. Right now all our work has changed weedy and overgrown to bleak and barren. It's kind of awful looking in our side yard these days.

Our social lives are a bit of the same. We moved. In the process a lot of the dead wood was trimmed from our social circle. Things were looking a little barren for a while there, too. We all know what happens when you prune or cull, it makes room for more beautiful things to grow, which is why we do it. For humans growth can be and often is painful. It has been for Mark and I but we have also grown closer to one another, more loving. Our relationship is one of the beautiful things that has seen new and vigorous growth since our move. We had hoped this would be so.

This process of change, of movement, has been difficult and enlightening. For me it means time to meditate, a gym close by, my husband for lunch. It means friends for Martina and proximity to classes we couldn't attend when the drive was much longer. For Mark it means a 5 minute commute, down by 50 minutes! As unsettling as the changes have been, we have discovered a new and more beautiful center for our family, new and beautiful friendships that we hope will be real and long lasting, and a closeness with our children that we missed before we made the room for things to grow.

Hookah! Hookah!

2010-03-10T12:43:00.000-05:00

My son is learning to sing and his first assignment is 'Vittoria, vittoria,' so maybe I've got double words on the brain but I also have hookah on my mind.

We bought a hookah in the Grand Bizarre in Istanbul last summer. Sadly, it did not come with grommets. Yesterday for some reason I was anxious to smoke my hookah. Unfortunately I could not get the sucker to seal up enough to bubble but my white knight rode in, on his big black truck Jemima, and bought me a new hookah from Smoker's Choice. Now I don't know which one I love best: the intricately flowered ceramic hookah we carried home from the Constantinople or the red one with gold flowers from Smoker's Choice just up the road.

I'm looking forward to sitting on our front porch, watching lightning bugs and smoking both of them on hot summer nights. Not at the same time, of course. I found that I can purchase grommets for the Turkish hookah, so it should be working soon.

Timber!

2010-03-09T13:22:00.000-05:00

We spent the weekend working around the house, much of the work was outside. Mark took down a big gum tree that wasn't in the best of health. Or so we thought. It was a bit sad how the tree wouldn't fall and a bit funny watching Mark at war with a tree. In the end, Mark won.

Look at the wedge cut in there. At this point the trunk was completely severed, yet it would not fall.

Eventually though sweat, brains and power tools won out and the tree was Going...

Going...

Gone!

And there was sunshine and light in our yard like never before and we were glad.

The End

2010-03-09T07:00:00.000-05:00

1. We can probably afford a solar hot water heater.
2. We can not afford solar electic.
3. There is no place on our really huge roof to place a solar array. We would have to put it on a rack on the ground. Dad would have a conniption and at his age that could be dangerous.
4. The solar salesman did everything but call Mark a liar when he told him they've taken hourly anemometer readings at the shipyard, a mile and a half upriver, for seven years and that the average wind speed for the Southern bank of the Eastern branch of the Elizabeth River is 21 mph.
5. Wind appears to be a better option for power and the technology is, so far as we have found thus far, better developed.
6. We can sign up for all sorts of grants. I'll try and post more of that information at a later date.
7. We need a LOT of money to even begin to get this house in order.

To the Suburbanites Who Won't Stay Out of My Yard

2010-03-08T08:27:00.002-05:00

Dear, precious people. I *know* there are horses out there in that pasture and that they are beautiful. I realize that you don't think it's a problem to take your dog out to chase them or your two year old child to run beneath their sharp and dangerous hooves. But it is. It is a problem.

Please read the signs nailed to the fence, they are No Trespassing signs. This means that you should not go into the posted area. Also, when I see you coming out from behind the pool, the horse trailer, the boat from the pen where the goats are, I'm not quite sure how to react. My husband tends to attack by asking where you live, so we can come to your yard and feed and pet your dogs over the fence, with our dogs leashed, so that they may defecate in your yard. Obviously this is acceptable behavior since you're modeling it. Right?

While I'm on the subject, when I ask if I can help you with something, which is the most polite thing I can think of to say when I'm actually thinking, "What the fuck are you doing in my pasture or goat pen?" the proper response is not to tell me that you've been watching and *never* see anyone out there so you figured it was okay to do whatever it was you were doing. It's not. It's not okay. If we were never out there the animals would be very thin or dead and they aren't either. If we were never out there, there would not be saddle marks on their backs. If we were never out there, our cats would not follow us around like two dollar whores looking for a good scratch.

I've been here and done this before and my approach this time will be different. Kindness does not work. Obviously kindness does not work since when I catch you trespassing you don't apologize but question the care my animals receive--yes, those same animals all gathered at the fence wanting attention. Let me tell you that livestock animals only do that when they are used to attention. Positive, loving, careful attention. They get that from me, the one who paid for them and buys and serves their food and shovels their shit and scrubs their water buckets. The one who has had that same horse there for almost eighteen years and who touched that pony's hooves before they were completely dry from being born. Me. Not you, the asshole with entitlement issues. Go home. Pet your dog. Leave me and my horses and goats and cats alone. Please.

PS-I really miss Deuce. He was a badass and he would have made a point of keeping you out of the pen.

Not too Frisky

2010-03-07T16:41:00.000-05:00

Lots of things to blog about: our house; gardening; food; eco-vations...but too busy doing things in the sunshine to write. I'm tired but making progress!

Sag Paneer

2010-03-07T12:18:00.000-05:00

Sag Paneer

2 bags or 3 boxes of fresh spinach

1 onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, diced

1 c cheese, cubed (whatever you like, I use raw cheddar)

¼ c heavy cream

1 tsp each:

cumin, coriander, garam masala

½ tsp paprika

salt

pepper

1 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp olive oil

Saute onion in a med frying pan until translucent, add garlic and other spices and sauté until well combined then add rinsed spinach and cook to wilt, simmer until water is evaporated. *, **

Make sure the heat is low and pour in the cream, stir, taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed, add cheese, cover and allow cheese to melt but not completely. Serve hot.

*If you’re in a rush, don’t add the spices until after this step, simply drain the water, and add the spices now.

**You can hold the spinach at this stage either on the stove or overnight in the fridge and just reheat and add the cream and cheese when you’re almost ready to serve.

Indian Spiced, Baked Salmon

2010-03-07T12:16:00.000-05:00

Sorry, no photos. I made this last night and it was really, really good. Wanted to get the recipe down before I forgot what I did.

Indian Spiced, Baked Salmon

1 wild caught Alaskan salmon filet

1 tomato, diced

1 onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, diced

cumin

garam masala

turmeric

salt

pepper

cayenne pepper

coriander

olive oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Trim skin and dark meat off of salmon, dice up and feed to cats. Saute onion in oil until translucent, add garlic, sauté a minute or so and add tomato, a pinch of salt, a grind of pepper and 1tsp or more of the other spices. Saute to blend and remove from heat.

While the onion is cooking, place the salmon filet, either whole or cut into 2 pieces, into an oiled baking dish. Top filets with onion mixture, place in the oven and cook until the salmon is done, about 30 minutes.

Serve with rice and Sag Paneer.

Running on a Horse

2010-03-04T21:08:00.000-05:00

A new poem, unfinished as yet.

Running on a Horse

All the pain goes streaming out behind

When we run, tears hit the wind, down a gravel road

In some lonesome landscape of countryside and soul

It’s like what they tell you about flying in a plane, how your soul

Can’t keep up and so gets left behind and must follow

At its own pace, til it finds you again. Only with horses

It’s pain and it can’t catch you at all until you

Have your horse brushed down and stabled for the night

Until your heart is back in it’s normal place, out of your throat

And settled in your chest which is, maybe, where the pain

Lodges to begin with.

This is why comfort is horse smell, sweat, leather, hay.

This is where we can move slowly and not feel the eyes in the dark.

This is why women ride, not for power over a creature so power filled

But because for those brief, wild moments

we escape the hurts life gives us, loss and gain,

children, men, birthing and rape, being born

dying, all common as hell

This is what we seek when we lean forward, whisper into our mount’s ear, rocket down a dusky dusty road with our hurt streaming out behind us

Like our long dark hair.

Photo Review of the Sustainable Living Fair at Norfolk's (Much Maligned) Waterside

2010-03-01T15:23:00.001-05:00

The very welcoming Welcome booth, generally wo-manned by Amelia of Green Alternatives. She is the perfect gal for the job with her bright smile and green energy.

Activism

Aboretum

and Alcohol, though this was the Green Caffeine sign, the same folks manned a sister booth for Green Drinks Tidewater. You can find them on Facebook.

Travis' wands and my Daffodil doll. You can find the doll on my Etsy shop. Comment to ask about the wands, there are several still left.

Travis working the crowd. We had locally made and hand crafted goodies including wands, Waldorf needle felted dolls and my own line of sugar scrubs and body oils. Everyone commented on how great our booth smelled!

Thanks to Bev Sells at 5 Points Community Farm Market aka Norfolk Community Farm Market for hosting the fair. It was our first foray into public with our products and we were quite pleased with the results.

(Apologies for the lack of links. Blogger has screwed up their link system and I can no longer copy and paste into the link option but must type all links in by hand. Google anything you're interested in, including our Etsy shop: Alchemy Redefined)

Alchemy Redefined at Sustainable Living Fair This Weekend

2010-02-26T09:19:00.001-05:00

Come out and support all things eco, green and sustainable. Bring your list of environmental buzz words and do a scavenger hunt to see how many you can cover. All of them? Maybe. Bring some cash so that you can support our local and maybe a bit less-than-local greenies by making a purchase here and there. My suggestion? Of course, a tub of Alchemy Redefined's luscious, creamy-yet-exfoliating sugar scrub in Lavender or Sassy Citrus.

Alchemy Redefined

alchemy-- the preparation of the elixir of longevity, discovery of the panacea,

  redefined--without the use of chemicals or harsh cleansers.

  Alchemy Redefined products are crafted from organic oils, sugars and honey and are subtly scented with essential oils. Our company uses organic, biodynamic and sustainable production methods. Every ingredient in our products is sourced as close to home as possible. We are dedicated to environmental awareness and use minimal packaging, reusable containers and small producers.  Order our products and experience a clean body and a clean conscience.

Contact

AlchemyRedefined@gmail.com

Alchemy Redefined's Etsy Shop
Sustainable Living Fair Home Page

Polish Pride

2010-02-23T08:08:00.001-05:00

I thought it was going to be a Polack joke when I got an email with this header from my husband, but no, it was (finally!) the flier for polished concrete floors.

We are going to take out the carpet from our downstairs room and either polish and color the slab or raise it, install heated tubing in the floor, and then do the color and polish. Like a giant finger nail. With a roof.

Anyway. I am including a pic from Christmas as the 'before' photo. The room is huge. The carpet stinks and is stained beyond cleaning. It is also the room where the animals go when they have to throw up. I don't know why but it is, so having the polished concrete will make clean up much easier.

I'm thinking something warm, like a reddish brown or burnt orange color for the finish.

PS-Yes, this is 5 am on Christmas morning. Yes, that's a beer. Santa drank it. He gets tired of hot chocolate. Martina is sure of it.

Bandit

2010-02-21T10:24:00.000-05:00

Our biggest, oldest, coolest barn cat.

Hitting the Road

2010-02-17T15:22:00.000-05:00

We're looking for a camper trailer, preferably a 5th wheel but a tag along is fine, too. Not expensive but clean and well cared for. It seems likely that two or three of the kids and I will be hitting the road sometime soon.

I want to spend some time in the desert. The kids need to see the United States. Mark isn't in love with the basic idea but the end result sounds okay to him. Let us know if you see that camper.

Where the Heart Is...

2010-02-06T10:57:00.002-05:00

Martina is WAY into Valentine's Day, so we've been making hearts. I have to admit they look sweet hanging in our kitchen window.

Bush-sicle

2010-02-04T09:11:00.000-05:00

I broke this little cluster off one of our boxwoods. These little bush-sicles were one of the coolest side effects of the winter storm, in my opinion. Martina used it to decorate her snow fairy house.

Hanging

2010-02-03T12:30:00.000-05:00

We don't have icicles very often and thought these were impressive.

Snow Snarls

2010-02-02T15:00:00.001-05:00

Off in the distance you will see my Dad's dock house, closer just an unbroken field of snow but then? Down in the corner? What the heck is that? Look at those *faces*!

Atmospheric

2010-02-02T08:43:00.000-05:00

Wind, our Chincoteague pony. January 30, 2010

Whiskers

2010-02-01T07:38:00.000-05:00

This is Martina's pony, Wind. Isn't he wonderful all grizzled with snow?

January 30, 2010

Happy Birthday Thunder (Randall, too, wherever you are!)

2010-01-31T13:45:00.001-05:00

One year ago today you were born. In the flower bed. We were putting mama in the Trailblazer to head for the Emergency Vet after 2 hours of non-productive labor. Needless to say, we were very happy to see you.

You looked kind of like a miniature flying cow, if there were such a thing. You were cute and you smelled like an angel and you were very, very soft. Martina named you for the lighting zig zag on your neck. She said it looked like a Thunderbolt.

But then we went off to Egypt before you got your last set of puppy shots and you almost died of Parvo. It was rampant last summer. Our neighbors lost dogs, our friends lost dogs but Mike, your stand-in dad, saved you. We only owed him $3500 in vet bills when we came home, poorer than church mice after our all-expenses paid vacation.

Oddly enough, though Mike could not get in contact with us, Martina knew you were ill. Her stomach hurt and she cried for you every night and prayed for your safety and well being. I think someone heard her...

Because she came home to this. Puppy hugs, fur balls and a vastly improved, Parvo inoculated forever, loyal, loving companion.

I just want to say it one more time, We love you. You are among the greats of dogdom, Thunder. The best puppy a girl could ever have is one year old today and you are already leaving very large pawprints.

Homeschool Community Garden

2010-01-30T11:48:00.000-05:00

The Idea:
To take the very large garden space by our barn and use it as a community building tool, a learning space for homeschool families--children in particular, to do something to help provide fresh, local, chemical-free food for a few families, to have a little fun.
The History:
My family just moved into my Grandfather's house. We lived here for a long time, bought a house in NC and then, almost 6 years to the day, moved back in. Our old garden and sheep/goat folds have been fallow since we moved. Before we moved, we had great success gardening this space but now it's larger because of the addition of the fold.
When we moved back, we used the area for the horses until Mark and Travis could finish putting up some new fence in the pasture. This means the horses added compost in the forms of manure and hay and then tilled it in with their hooves.
So, as it now lays, we have an almost ready space for our garden.
The Personnel Plan:
I have invited homeschool families from our area to join us but will limit our group to 7 or 8 families for this year.
A few friends who have varying amounts of gardening, personnel management, conflict resolution, environmental activism and scientific training have surfaced to help with the administration. For this year I intend to stick with 'the de'el I ken,' if you know what I mean.
We will have one meeting of the Chiefs to hash out technicalities and then will have a meeting for all interested families. We already have 4 committed, so that leaves room for about 4 more. I'm sure some will fall off naturally and from there, we'll see how many are left. If there are more families than we have room for we will have a hat-draw for the spaces.
The Garden Plan:
Beds using Square Foot gardening principles.
No chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides.
Liberal use of compost, hand picking of predators and mulch.

I will update this info as time goes on and our plans become more solid.

Rock, Rose, Ivy

2010-01-26T21:02:00.000-05:00

Out my kitchen window and down a little hill there is an igloo. It's made of stone but still, it looks like an igloo. In my gardening fantasies, the side of the hill to the right of the door is covered in roses and to the left of the door is covered in ivy. Sort of a sun and moon garden plan. A shadow and light garden, really. I have to work with what I've got: shade and sunlight on either side of the igloo. Isn't it great!

In the summertime the inside of the rock house is cooler than anywhere else that's not air conditioned. It was built in 1920 before a/c.

Granddaddy dated everything. (but not everyone!)

Synopsis or 3 Days in the Life

2010-01-25T19:25:00.002-05:00

Camo Kitty

Bridey, sitting by the old, capped off pump.

Would ya look what the dawgs dragged in?

We turned the little guy loose on the far side of the covered bridge.

When life hands you lemons...

It has rained more this year than I can ever remember. Martina and Thunder making lemonade.

Bagheira and Gizmo on the new shelves in the shed.

Thank you, dear, for the lovely spice shelf. Life with a man who can Make Stuff is a blessing.

Are you feelin' Frisky?

Mark laughed at me when I put this bin on the laundry room table for Frisky to sleep in. He thought the clean clothes would be much more appealing. Fortunately, Frisky (who isn't) disagrees.

It's in the bag!

This is not Granny's stole waiting to be taken to the thrift store. No, this is Hootie...or half of Hootie, observing the Golden Rule of the Cats: No paper bag shall be left unturned.
And there you have our life synposis for the January 23-25, 2010.

What Liberty Means to Me

2010-01-22T10:10:00.000-05:00

Martina had an assignment for our Colonial Life and American Revolution Unit. The assignment was a fun one: Write a poem using the letters: L I B E R T Y.
Here is her poem,
What Liberty Means to Me
Life
Important freedom
Best side of war
Enough protection
Right idea
The freedom of slaves
Young soldier

I was very happy with the thought and effort she put into her poem.
Sincerely,
Proud Mama

A tree in the snow

2010-01-22T08:55:00.000-05:00

What? did you expect something less obvious? Seriously, if it's going to precipitate in late January I would prefer some of the above rather than more rain. Thank you.

Middle Eastern Values Come to the Mountains of Virginia

2010-01-18T11:27:00.000-05:00

There's nothing quite so wonderful as paying $5 for a free map.

Growing Up Too Fast

2010-01-17T17:27:00.003-05:00

She's growing up so quickly that sometimes I forget that she isn't really grown. Look at that face; those teeth; the sweetness; the reindeer hat!

It's a reality check to take my big girl to a snowy, creek-y mountainside and let her romp with our dogs. See the creek? The dog? The reindeer boots?

See how fascinated she is that a snowball floats? This will feed a science lesson this week, for sure! She how uncaring she is about getting dirty or evil creatures which may be lurking under the rocks? Can you tell how incredibly trusting she still is?

Look at that face! Look at the reindeer hoof gloves! This is a little kid who is completely enthralled by the magic of a snowball. She may be getting big but she's not grown. Not by a long shot. And all I can say is that I am so very happy about the little girl who blesses my life every day with her ability to see magic.

Postcard from the Road

2010-01-17T13:17:00.003-05:00

Field. Floyd, VA. Jan 2010

We are on our way home from the mountains. We looked at a sweet piece of land near Ferrum, romped in the snow, stayed at an eco-B&B and had supper at Chateau Morrisette. If you know me at all, you will know the highlight was the winery because you will have seen Black Dog in my hand so many times...or the empties in the recycling bin.

The winery was lovely. The B&B was shabby chic with a crunchy edge. The land is a definite maybe.

We'll be home soon!

Quitting Facebook

2010-01-14T21:40:00.000-05:00

This is me, the unfeeling, heartless bitch who must have loads of shitty karma built up from past lives because believe me, this one? This one is about me handing your shit back to you.

I quit. I quit Facebook.
Too many times I have received nasty letters both in real and e mail from people telling me what a shitty person I am. I get it. You think that I don't feel. I'm like an amoeba or something, right? No heart, no nerves, just a receptacle for all the shit you can dump. Kind of like a compost pile for all of your repressed negativity. I say something, you react, you think it's about me. I think: No. This is all about you finding offense where none was offered. It's about you using and mistreating people and then casting them aside as if they don't matter. It's all about you, not me.
No thanks.
Account deleted. All you haters? Wallow in your own shit and see how that feels.

One of These Things Is Not Like the Other

2010-01-12T17:04:00.003-05:00

Hmmm...Rooster, rooster, rooster, rooster, cat!

The humor far outweighs the grossness of having a cat on top of the kitchen cabinets.

Today

2010-01-12T15:51:00.003-05:00

Payday has the sweetest face ever. I love how soft his expression is and his fuzzy little ears. See how he's got them turned back? He's listening, pay attention to Martina.

This was a quiet homeschooling day. Martina has done math and reviewed Chapter 12 in her Latin book. She did her science reading and some grammar work. I went to the gym and worked arms, chest and back with Eli. She's a good workout partner. Once home, we had lunch and then it was time for Miss Sharon to give Martina her riding lesson.

On the suckish side of the equation, my grand-dog, here for a playdate bit Martina just before Miss Sharon's scheduled arrival.

Ouch!

I treated the leg and had Martina ride my horse instead of her rotten pony today. She completely forgot about her hurt leg once she was outside and playing with the horses. Miss Sharon had fun with Payday because he's so much more sensitive than Wind. Riding the old guy gave Martina some idea of what Wind can be like, will be like, eventually.

Randall used to ride this same horse when he was 7 or 8!

The freedom to do the things which interest us most is one of the coolest things about homeschooling.

Yesterday

2010-01-11T16:21:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we marshaled our forces and headed to our old house to make finals plans for our sheep. We weren't sure until the very last moment that Mark wouldn't butcher the ram, Deuce, as well as the the lamb and bring the ewes back here with us. At the final moment, a friend of a friend decided to take the ewes and Deuce. I was really relieved. The thought of killing and cutting up our old ram, who produced so many fine babies was a bit difficult. He was never in the portion of my brain reserved for The Animals We Shall Eat.

Mark and a couple of our friends (here's Ben's blog.) butchered the lamb. It was hard on Mark to kill the little guy and hard work getting it all done, but we now have a freezer full of protein provided by the grass raised steer half we bought from a neighbor, the deer Mark shot, and the lamb. Now I just need to find some great lamb recipes, especially for ground lamb. We have a lot of that. I'm already well-versed in what to do with the venison.

Raising our own meat animals is hard in many ways. The meat costs a lot per pound by the time we factor in all of our time, feed, etc. Animals are labor intensive, not that they require hours per day but they require *something* every day. We have to feed our animals because we don't have the grass to support them without feed. Ideally we would not have to provide extra feed but because we want(ed) to know what growing our own animals for meat would be like, what they would taste like, and how we would feel about eating them, we thought it was a good decision to do so.

Beyond the daily grind of animal husbandry, which is mostly my bit though Mark does quite a lot, there is the chore of taking the animal to an abattoirs or of butchering at home. We've done it both ways. If delivery is required, that's my job. If home-processing is in order, that's Mark's. Then I have to cook it. I don't actually like meat. I find the texture appalling and the flavor something I can live without but because my husband is a meatitarian, I cook it.

This is how we, sort of, equally divide the labor of love of raising our own animals for food. And yesterday was a good day not only because Mark and the guys put meat in the freezer but because Deuce went to a new home, with experienced sheep owners and can continue to throw those fat, fuzzy babies.

Cuteness

2010-01-08T09:25:00.002-05:00

I will never get tired of posting pictures of Martina and Wind.

Recent Family News of Note

2010-01-08T09:12:00.003-05:00

Elizabeth isn't going back to Warren Wilson. She's headed for TCC and living at home.

Our household is now gluten free, as are our intestines. Except for Mark's.

It didn't snow last night and we are not happy about that.

I need to sign Martina up for ballet today.

Someone wants my sheep. If only I could find that person.

I'm really blogging now, eh?

The End.

Garlic Seared Venison with Fruit Reduction

2010-01-03T09:26:00.003-05:00

This recipe will feed 10 or 12 people. It can easily be halved.

Cast and Crew:

4 venison loins

1 bulb of garlic, yes, a whole bulb

1 small onion or a couple of shallots

olive oil

salt

pepper

butter

red wine

sugar free strawberry preserves

sugar free raspberry preserves

(any other berry preserve to replace the above, make sure it's sugar free)

beef or venison stock (recipe at bottom)

Take your 4 loins and lay them in a container of some sort--a pyrex 9x13 works well for this. Peel and dice a good 1/3 cup of garlic cloves, set aside 1 clove then using the rest of your garlic, chop it very finely and using the side of your butcher knife, drag the flat of the knife over the garlic to smush it until it is very soft, scrape into a small bowl and add a scant 3 tbsp salt and about the same amount of freshly ground pepper. Mix in enough olive oil to make a nice paste, not too thick. Spread 1/2 of this over the top of the venison and allow to sit for 20-30 minutes. Roll the meat over and spread the paste on the other side and allow to sit for another 20-30 minutes. I don't put it in the fridge but if you're worried, put it in.

While the venison sits, dice and saute the remaining clove of garlic with 1/2 finely chopped onion or shallots in 2 tbsp each olive oil and hormone-free butter until the onion is transparent. Add in about a cup of red wine, I used Pinot Noir, and then stir in some sugar free berry preserves, I used about 1/2 c each of strawberry and seed-free raspberry. Mix well with a wooden spoon and then add 2 cups of beef or venison stock. Simmer over med-low heat to blend flavors and reduce.

While the sauce is simmering, grab the venison and a big frying pan. Heat the pan over med-high heat and add enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan. We want the oil really hot but not quite smoking. Gently lay the loins in the pan and sear them on each side until crispy and brown. I try to make these round pieces of meat have 4 sides and sear them that many times for maybe 5 minutes each but this depends on your pan, your stove, etc. If they get a little too brown, don't worry, it will still be delicious. The outside should be dark brown and crispy.

Slice the loins into circles on a cutting board and put them on a serving platter then pour or spoon some of the reduction over the top. Serve the rest of the reduction in a gravy boat.

Beef (or venison) Stock:

2 soup bones

2 c water

salt-to taste

pepper-to taste

1 stick celery with tops

1/2 onion

a couple of garlic cloves

Toss all of it into a sauce pan, bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat and simmer for 30-45 minutes until the fat and flavor from the bones has infused the water with flavor.

Ringing In the Year with those Big Questions

2010-01-01T09:36:00.008-05:00

Like most everyone, I do a bit of life eval at New Years. My husband does it too, because I pressure him into it. On the last day of 2009 our big questions were the same ones I imagine a lot of other people were asking themselves:

Is this the life we want to live?

If there is such a thing as happy, is what we're doing going to lead us there?

If you could picture your ideal life, where would it be? What would you do each day? What sorts of ideals and ethics would you live by?

and the really big one:

How do we get there from here?

And so, we find ourselves once again in a quagmire of living next door to the Joneses but feeling more like the Hatfields. Of desires and wants butted right up against the opposing force of our wish to be conscientious consumers, ethical walkers on this fragile, damaged planet.

Mark is a hunter. He is a man's man and I mean that in the most hairy chested, grunting, scratching sense of the words. He does not talk about his emotions, especially with other men. He often does not recognize that he has them (emotions, not other men). He leaves everything to do with the house, home, hearth, children and homeschooling up to me and never even asks what we're up to. He swears he can tell by watching Martina that she's learning just fine and I guess that's okay. He likes being the provider and I like my work at home status, so we are a good match. Beyond those basics, though, I sometimes wonder what in the hell we're doing married. Mark likes plastic, styrofoam and more than one trash can to haul to the curb every Friday. I like minimal packaging, composting and producing as little garbage as possible. I started reading Mother Earth News when I was 18 and dreaming of homesteading in Montana. He was in the Navy and married to a go-go dancer 8 years older than him. To say we have disparate visions and life experiences would be to minimize things.

Like I said before, his goal is to be the provider and he is good at providing what he thinks he is supposed to, what he wants to provide. What is that? Is it lots of money so we can take fabulous vacations to Scotland or fresh, home grown crops and meat for our table? At this point in time what my husband provides is money and sometimes meat, labor in the garden, a strong back, a great work ethic and a warm body on the other side of the bed at night. I provide housekeeping and cooking services, child care, teaching, animal care, research capabilities and responsibilities, chemical free gardening experience and know how, angst and the cold butt on my side of the bed. In other words, we have divvied up our lives pretty traditionally.

But are these traditional roles what we want? Is what we want to do with our lives to spend them working and spending without ever catching a break? Are we, in the end, relentless consumers or are we really dedicated to changing the status quo in our own little way by consuming less, by providing more of our own needs, by *wanting* less? (And by 'we', I mean 'I', because here in Essertland, I'm the only one who cares. The rest of them would be happy with Ravioli and Coke every day.) There's the rub. It's hard, really abominably hard to quit *wanting* all the shit that we are supposed to want.

Here is an example: Can new curtains really provide a balm for my unquiet soul? Yes. The answer is, Yes. They can. You see, I just bought new curtains. They are aqua colored, thermal, watered silk with lovely flowers embroidered on them. In the mornings I wake up in a room that is the color of underwater in the Green Grotto. What is it about these curtains that soothes my soul? Was it the act of buying them, new! in a store? Is it the simple fact that I find them incredibly, unbelievably beautiful? Is it the way they keep the city night's light outside and allow Mark and I cocoon into our bed with no more than a soft blue glow at the windows? Is it waking up feeling like I'm floating in the waters off Capri that does it? It is all of those things, except for the first one, especially the underwater feeling.

Now, how would I know about the Green Grotto if I'd never been there? How would I somehow connect my bedroom with a small X on the map just off the coast of Italy without the consumer dollars we spent to get there? Again, that damned quandary: my gluttony versus my desire to be an ethical consumer of goods and services.

It's all so difficult and overwhelming, this noise inside my head. There are endless combinations that could equal my ideal because even still, I'm not sure what my ideal life is, where it is, what it consists of. Somehow I thought that by age 45, I'd have all of that ironed out. Here is what I do know: I want to do something. I want to make a difference. I want to go to Scotland, sit in a pub and drink too much Scotch on my way to Mykonos for a week. Yeah. At least I'm thinking about it. Are you?

The Red Cloaks

2009-12-30T19:33:00.003-05:00

Today we went to Williamsburg. For a year now we have been lusting after a red woolen cloak for Martina and today we found one. She has worn it since the second we purchased it. For the day she had on her colonial style dress and she came close to freezing but with the addition of a petticoat and the cloak she was better. Still cold but too prideful to put my sweater vest back on. We also picked up Liberty passes which means we have until January of next year to visit everything we can in the Colonial Williamsburg area.

We didn't visit any of the exhibits but did have a fancy lunch at the Williamsburg Inn, a special treat for our family which is always done during the holidays.

I love Williamsburg at Christmastime. Hot cider, classic decorations, horse drawn carriages and rosy-cheeked cold.

The Revolution

2009-12-29T09:08:00.004-05:00

We are headed for a 2nd grade Unit Study of Colonial Life and the American Revolution. Every Christmas I fall in love with Williamsburg, VA and this year I'm giving in and feeding it. Today is the beginning of our Unit. Martina's assignment is to create a diorama of what she thinks life was like in Colonial America.

We have several books we plan on reading and I'll post Amazon links as we get to them. For now, Martina may use these for information if she feels like she needs more than she has:

Felicity, An American Girl, Boxed Set

Adventures in Colonial America Series:

The Village

Seventh and Walnut

The Farm

Later this week Daddy is going hunting and we girls will head to Colonial Williamsburg for a nice lunch at the Williamsburg Inn and some taking in of the sights there. Perhaps Martina will use a bit of her Christmas money to purchase a new Colonial era dress and a red woolen cape to go with it. Maybe I will too! Then we'll have proper outfits to wear on our forays into Colonial America and war with England.

Pandora

2009-12-28T18:29:00.001-05:00

She is the sweetest little thing. We tie our other goat, Sarah, and leave Pandora loose. She migrates between the dogloo where they sleep and wherever Sarah is tied. If we're out, she's close by, talking in her tiny little voice all of the time. Bah.

Christmas Treasures

2009-12-25T09:18:00.003-05:00

Christmas Treasures are the same things that are treasured all year long. A few of them go on great adventures during the holiday season...

like Prancer, Martina's reindeer who made the sleigh team for the second year in a row. Prancer is now officially retired from service at the North Pole.

Randall playing the guitar Mark and I gave him for his 14th birthday, in a house my Grandfather built 100 years ago. The treasure of history, heritage and continuity...

and these girls. Beauties one and all. Eli our college girl, Martina reciter of the first four lines of the Aeneid and Aleia, future Dentist.

My husband, Mark. Provider extraordinaire of love, necessities, sarcasm and warmth. (Eli knitted him the hat =D)

Laughter and happiness and beer and the ability to be perfectly happy when sitting on a piece of lawn furniture right in the middle of the living room.

Wonder. The ability of an 8 year old child to completely lose herself in her sister's reading of, "A Visit From Saint Nick," late, in front of a roaring fire on Christmas Eve.

A 17 year old son who loves whatever his little sister gives him for a present. How cool is that?

Then there is this part, which we don't do except at Christmas. People who can't understand why anyone would buy into the consumeristic BS at this time of year? Please look at that kid's face.
These are the things that make Christmas beautiful for my family. What does it for you and yours?

2009-12-24T13:20:00.001-05:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

December 23rd, 2009

2009-12-23T16:02:00.001-05:00

Things are beginning to get a little crazy around here! But we're all in the Spirit of the Season.

Spiral Walk 2009

2009-12-22T07:48:00.004-05:00

We always begin our Spiral Walk evening with a story about the creatures gathering around a tiny flame. There are a rabbit, a mouse, gnomes, and an angel. The children sit on the floor round the table and listen as the story is told and acted out with our felt creatures.

Then we all meet by the front door bundled up in our coats and begin the walk to the spiral. We sing Christmas carols, though for us the event is not strictly a Christian one. When we approach the door to the spiral we hush, knock and are allowed entrance.

The room is dark except for the angel, sitting in the center of the spiral holding her light. In the background we hear guitar music playing softly. One by one the children come, some in the arms of their parents, to choose an apple with a candle in the center to carry into the spiral. There, they light their apple candles from the light of the angel and bring it back toward the outside world, pausing somewhere along the way to place it carefully near the path.

The spiral begins to glow as each child and then the parents walk to the center and bring the light back out. The little boys rush to the center and back again, moving so quickly that their candles barely stay lit. The girls are slower, more gentle in their journeys. The mothers wearing their long, flowing wraps look like mythical creatures as they move through the spiral.

The dark room becomes lighter. Soon we recognize the faces of those around us.

The soft glow of the candlelight illuminates the room. All of the children are quiet, reverent and wide eyed. It is a beautiful moment among our little family of homeschoolers. When the last participant leaves the evergreen spiral, I open the door, thank them for bringing their light into the world and everyone quietly goes. Back home, back into the world which is a bit brighter for their being in it.

The spiral in the bright light of day.

'Tis the Season (for Migraine Headaches)

2009-12-17T21:15:00.004-05:00

Christmas is my favorite season. For those not in the know, Christmas is not a holiDAY, it is a holiSEASON. Probably, for some people, it's all about the shopping and the gifts and the presents and the stuff but for me it's about something else. Decorations and lights and sparkly fairy thingies and looking into a pair of round blue eyes and seeing innocence and trust and all things good and holy.

Yes, it's true that Christmas has little to do with the birth of Jesus in our household, though we do recognize him and tell his story right alongside the story of the lights in the Temple and the Yule fairies and Santa Clause.

But none of that is the point of this post. Christmas is known to be a stressful time of year. Normally, for me, it's not. Only this year, it is. We aren't completely moved. Our sheep are in NC still. The dog was spayed a few days ago and making sure she doesn't pop a stitch and spill her guts all over the place is a chore. We have had parties lined up asshole to elbow and while they are wonderful and the whole getting dressed up thing is fun, I'm a bit worn out. Add to that serious, ongoing health issues, social stresses that outweigh anything in recent memory and a sudden influx of great business propositions and I'm all set up.

What do you mean 'set up' you may ask? Well, set up for a migraine. Stress is big factor in many migraines but for me they land just after the stress lets up. Like today. As soon as Mark walked into the house, Bam!, I went blind (which is from the aura preceding the migraine, a classical symptom). Yesterday I had to shop, something I hate worse than having my toenails plucked out with pliers, was dumped by a close friend for reasons I don't understand, then had to do party prep for Night on the Town with my Dad and 50 or so of our closest relatives, some of whom we don't know. Dressing included a lotion bottle explosion which covered Martina's expensive cocktail dress and almost, ALMOST but not quite, ruined the night. We recovered. Mark lost a lens from his glasses at the party, during repairs I ordered a glass of Scotch and the bartender filled the fucker to the rim. God love her.

But I digress. Today we had to rush to arrive early for a 10am Nutcracker performance (think clean, neat, nice clothing). Remember we have livestock (think boots, hay covered clothing, wind, dirt, manure). We thoroughly enjoyed the show, and I was able to watch the ballet for the first time ever. Lovely. Magical. I cried. Then lunch with the kids, home for a riding lesson and house work.

When Mark came in I was making creamed turnips. He said, "Hello love," and I went blind. (Again, the aura.) And that's how it works for me and migraines. As soon as I can let my breath out after a period of extreme stress, Bam! It hits. Then my head hurts for a few days. But you know what? It's okay. Because I have Mark to bring me water and Excedrin migraine and Martina to give me kisses and Travis to take over cooking the damned turnips. They were delicious.

Obsessed, Facebook, Real Life and Community Gardens

2009-12-15T21:02:00.005-05:00

Lately I've been playing Farmville a lot. It's a good fit for a computer game. I get to grow stuff. I get to check out. I get to harvest, virtually, tons and tons of beautiful produce that my friends stop by and fertilize for me. I have a similar relationship with Cafe World. I love to cook. Why not do it in cyberspace where clean up is easy and everything is forgivable.

Then today a friend told me about a meeting on Community Gardens at a local business. Tonight. So I turned off Facebook and went out into the real world where gardens have real dirt, real bugs and require real hands to work them. I won't say it was amazing but it was good. It was satisfying like a crock pot full of simmering bean soup. It was filling. And nourishing. Are you tired of the nutritional cliches yet? The most thrilling thing of all was talking to, interacting with, breathing the same air as other people who are passionate about gardening and sustainability.

Mark and I have been so long in the society of monoculturists and so far from everything that might make us feel like we could be a part of a like-minded community that this evening's meeting was far more for me than just informative. It was a reminder that I am not alone in this journey toward a healthy world.

Thanks Sara.

Marketing the Skills of a Homeschool Mom

2009-12-09T16:48:00.003-05:00

Some days I look back on the hours that went before and I think, "What the hell did I do all day?" Most of the time I feel like I really haven't accomplished what I set out to do and therefore, being a glass half-empty kind of gal, I think I didn't do much if anything.

One of my friends used to be a high level marketing executive. She can make Food Lion potato salad sound like vichyssoise and vodka. Sometimes, when I have one of these I didn't do squat days, I think of her and reframe.

Today is one of those days. I had grand plans of getting the whole, entire, gigantic downstairs room cleaned out and organized. It didn't happen. So I started feeling like a failure of mammoth proportions and wondering how my husband can stand to come home after a long and productive day to a home in which nothing has changed. Then I remembered the vichyssoise and vodka.

By 8am I had cleared off a 9' segment of kitchen counter space, shelved a milk crate full of books, made coffee, started a load of laundry and fed the (7) cats who live in our yard. Then I showered, taught Martina how to make scrambled eggs with cheese and ham, given her the rest of her weekly assignments and prodded Travis into semi-consciousness.

By 2pm I had cleaned and organized and watered all of the plants, mostly herbs, living in my sun porch and repotted a couple of them; eaten lunch; moved a few boxes out of the downstairs and sorted through one I found behind my bedroom door. 3 more loads of laundry had gone through the cycle. The kids and I had made a trip to the homeschool bookstore where Travis picked out a math tome that suits his needs and I found a nifty writing course for Martina. (Life of Fred math-thanks Sara and Shez and Writing With Ease by Susan Wise Bauer, I have high hopes for this one!) Supper was bubbling away in the crock pot.

By 4pm, Travis had done the first assignment in the math book, watched his history course dvd, done Latin with his little sister as his tutor (heh) and myriad other things, all at my direction. Martina was finished with her school work, as well. The school work is not a short cycle deal, either. I've come to realize and maybe even have gotten over, that I am a school-at-home homeschooler. I like books. I like order. I like to go through things in a certain order. So, not only did we do school work, Mom had a moment of realization and self-acceptance.

If you've made it this far you, too, have done something huge today ;) and thanks to my friend, Shez, I have a glass that's half full.

Catching Up

2009-12-06T17:33:00.003-05:00

We are moved and I am cooking in a new/old kitchen. The set up here is strange because my father, who has never cooked anything more involved than a can of soup, designed the kitchen. He would take no advice and so, for now, I have to live with the consequences. They aren't too dire but the kitchen is awkward with cracks in the edges of the countertops, badly stained linoleum that is coming apart at the seams and a cabinet system that has lots of room that is not greatly useable.

So, whine, snivel, stomp. Here I am, back in the Big City, where I belong and I haven't been so happy in years. When I cook something delicious and want to photograph it, I just can't bring myself to share the tawdry realities of my current cooking space. Recently I have made a delicious breakfast casserole, my favorite fennel and rock fish recipe, a simple, hearty goulash with cabbage and local hamburger and a delicious, sweet salad that everyone in our family consumed like sharks on a feeding frenzy. No recipes though, and no photos. Not yet.

I'll get back to it soon, if any of you are waiting around out there for my next great, easy, chemical-free food ideas. If you're waiting for more of my dry, smart-assed commentary you will be satisfied much more quickly.

GUESS Homeschool Science Fair

2009-12-06T17:16:00.000-05:00

The sponsors of our 2009 GUESS Homeschool Science Fair generously provided our young scientists with exciting prizes for the winners. Their donations also allowed us to underwrite the cost of all the kids' science fair day at the VASC, including an age-appropriate science class, an electricity demo, and an IMAX movie. Part of what we do to thank our sponsors is generating links for them on homeschool blogs and sites, pointing to their web presence from descriptive anchor text, to boost their Google ranking on those search terms. That's where this post comes in!

We need your help to spread these links across the internet, to say thank you to these businesses for supporting our young homeschooled scientists. If you have a blog, or site, and you can help us, please steal this post! For maximum impact on search engines, it's very important that the links go along with the post, attached to the appropriate text, so if you need the plain HTML to put into your blog, click here for a .txt file.

So, how can you help the GUESS Homeschool Science Fair?

1. Copy this post, or the .txt file with the HTML.
2. Post it to your blog.
3. Let us know when you've done it so we can link back to your blog!

Here's the part of the post we want you to "steal":

Thank you to the following homeschool-friendly businesses for supporting the GUESSHomeschool Science Fair and the young scientists of Hampton Roads!

Green Olive Tree is an internet company based in Portsmouth, Virginia and owned and operated by a homeschooling family. They offer a broad range of internet services, fromreliable web hosting to corporate infrastructure solutions and server administration.

SKS Science supplies homeschoolers and other educators with all the science supplies you need to turn your dining room table into a proper laboratory. Browse their site for test tubes, bottles, face masks and other lab supplies and books.

Book Exchange is the largest used bookstore in Eastern Virginia. Unlike most musty and confusing used stores, this one is clean, bright, inviting, and has a huge selection of used homeschool books. There's always an interesting curriculum find on these shelves!

Folkmanis Puppets makes the most delightful animal puppets available outside Santa's workshop. Meet their most unusual creations like llamas, Chinese dragons, ostriches, flying squirrels. Unusual materials create realistic textures, and they all move in very realistic ways. Irresistible.

The Happy Scientist, Robert Krampf, hosts an online wonderland for budding scientists. Withonline science lessons, experiments to try at home, a science photo of the day, and new content added all the time, you'll love setting your kids loose on this site.

Mad Science is Hampton Roads' premier provider of science enrichment classes for children. Summer classes include "Crazy Chemistry" and a space camp developed with NASA! New homeschool science classes are being offered in Norfolk and VA Beach, with more planned for fall.

Moore Expressions is a homeschool bookstore in Virginia Beach, VA. They sell used and newhomeschooling curriculum, host a support group, and publish a newsletter called the Bayith Educator. They are the premier source for homeschooling books in the Hampton Roads area.

Norfolk Karate Academy offers classes in Tang Soo Do (Korean karate) and Gracie Jiu Jitsu(Brazilian grappling and self-defense). With classes for children, teens, and adults, it's a great way for anyone to get in shape and kick things in a socially acceptable way!

Brooks Systems offers standalone software and web applications that check legal compliance in all municipalities in all fifty states, and create truth-in-lending documents for residential lenders. Using Brooks for your automated mortgage compliance, you can be sure your loans are safe.

Virginia Air and Space Center was host to the homeschool science fair this year, and delivered awesome science classes for homeschoolers from their education department. The VASC is the educator resource center for the NASA Langley Research Center.

Thanks to Lydia and Sherene for expending the energy to make the fair wonderful.

Newton Piano, Virginia Beach, VA

2009-12-02T07:33:00.003-05:00

Update: Today Newton did come to our home and repair the piano. The Mr. Newton who came, Joe, was incredibly personable and professional. He found the problem with the piano, fixed that and we then hired him to tune it. He stayed for several hours and did a damned fine job.

Normally I do not post reviews to this blog, I keep them over at WhereIGoReviews. Today is different. I feel the need to spread the word about this business and intend to place a call to the Better Business Bureau later today. Here is what is new since I wrote the original post: twice now Newton has told us they will be at our home to repair the damage done to our antique baby grand piano when they moved it. Twice they have not shown up. Twice they have not called. Twice we have been left here waiting for them to fix what they broke and they haven't.

I would drive to Richmond or Raleigh for piano services before I would use Newton.

Below is the post from WhereIGoReviews:

When browsing through the directory for piano movers, there was only one company that dealt exclusively with pianos among the plethora of multi-purpose moving companies. It seemed to be very simple to choose Newton. After all, they appeared to be the professionals.

I called, booked the move tentatively based on having my call returned and pick up confirmed by X, the person who deals with booking moves. I very specifically left instructions that I be contacted at my home telephone number because cell phone service at our rural NC home is undependable. I never received a call at our home but when I left to go out a few days later and got service on my cell, I noticed that I had missed a couple of calls from Newton. I called back and spoke with X who said something about how I need to answer my phone. I then re-explained the situation with cell -vs- home telephones but in the end, X never contacted me at my home number. He was also patronizing and insistent, for a short time, that my piano is not a baby grand but probably a small grand piano which would cost more to move. Not that he had seen the piano.

X told me that he contracts the moves out to another company. He told me that the movers generally come and pick up the truck at 8:00 am on Saturdays and they would come to my house immediately after that. I asked if I could then plan on the piano movers arriving between 9:00 and 9:30 am and was told that no, he couldn’t say that. I asked what time I should expect them and Tom told me that sometime before 10:30 am on Saturday would be reasonable.

On the day of the scheduled move all was quiet. No telephone ringing. No movers arriving. Nothing. Finally, at approximately 11:45 am, I called Newton Piano and was told that the movers would not be in that day. They had made other plans. X told me, “I should have called.” No kidding. He said they would be at my home the following morning and proceeded to tell me how dependable the men are. I told him that my experience told me different but that I would be there and to please call if they couldn’t be there.

Following morning the movers came. They moved the piano. It now has a dead key and rings (I am not certain of the proper term here) as if one of the pedals were pushed down all of the time. We called and Newton said someone would come out to repair the piano. Nothing so far. The piano has been here for a week. They want us to pay them $85.00 to tune it but we paid them $395.00 to move it and they damaged it during the move and are, as seems to be their wont, neglecting to do their professional duty by staying in touch or showing up to fix the antique baby grand in my living room.

Based on my experience with Newton I cannot recommend them for their quality of service, pricing or customer relations. All-in-all my experience with Newton was a huge disappointment.

What Happens After Co-op

2009-12-01T19:36:00.002-05:00

We come home and fall down, flat, on our faces. Then we don't move until the next morning.

We love our homeschool school. The people and community and classes are wonderful. Still, every single droplet of energy is sucked out of our bodies and we are useless for the rest of the day.

Martina watched tv and read all afternoon. I've been online or walking around the house looking at all the things I need to do and just can't muster the energy for.

We are tired but it's a good tired, if you know what I mean.

Re-homing our Home school

2009-11-29T18:55:00.002-05:00

Thank god and Greyhound we're here. Our valuables are here. Our animals, except the sheep, are moved/rehomed/cared for. And finally, finally we have a place for schoolwork and school books and all the accompanying plethora of stuff that comes along with a bibliophile who is homeschooling her protege.

There is a shelf for the currently-in-use texts. There is a table on our bright and shiny, glassed-in front porch for the work to be done on. Even the library books have their own, special shelf.

Library books? You could ask that if you knew of my vehement objection to library books based on past performance. It has often cost me more to borrow a free book than to purchase it new at Barnes and Noble. To you I say this: Yes, library books. These are an important and pleasing new addition to our homeschool. You see, we used to have to drive 20 miles to the library. There was a nice children's section and the librarians were lovely but it was 20 miles, no 40 miles, out of our way in a place and a direction in which we never traveled. Not worth it, in other words. Here we drive past the local, beautiful, shiny and new library almost every day. It makes my heart sing. It makes Martina sing. And bounce. She got her own library card. It may have been the best day of her life.

Our little melamine board with the squares and days of the week written in permanent marker is now fully filled in. It actually looks a little daunting for such a small child to have to do all that work! But there it is, all filled in for this week, for the first week in a long time. We have been winging it, trying to hold onto Latin and Math for almost two months now but as of this week, the MTBar Farm Homeschool is back in full swing, with a full menu. We have Latin, Phonics, Language Arts and Science, along with co-op classes and hoped for interview with a riding instructor. We have a book shelf, a table, good chairs and a comfy couch for reading. We have sunshine, two dogs, ten cats and three horses. And a new goat ... but she'll have to wait for another post.

Why I Am Thankful

2009-11-26T11:54:00.002-05:00

1. The rat we smell in the kitchen is so obviously dead.

2. Because of the rat, we pulled out the stove and found the rat poison underneath it. Before a cat did.

3. None of the cats has eaten said rat and partaken of said rat poison, left by previous tenants.

4. The shelf in the laundry room did not permanently damage anyone or anything when it fell off the wall on top of Eli and I.

5. That B-ster comes here every time he runs away from home.

6. We are now certain we have to replace the approximately 800' of pipe between our house and the street because as I do laundry on Thanksgiving, the soapy water is pouring out into the back yard.

7. That it is soapy water and not certain *other* things pouring out into the back yard. We're all holding it.

8. The smells of turkey cooking, venison roasting and bacon totally overwhelm the smell of decomposing rat.

9. Sunshine through falling leaves.

10. Family. Kids who come home. A husband who works hard.

11. The fairy house in the roots of the oak tree out front.

12. Every single event, good, bad or indifferent which led to our country having one day per year when we are encouraged to be introspective and thankful and aware of our blessings.

Amen.

Culture Shock...Me, Not Them.

2009-11-22T10:53:00.003-05:00

1. Travis can walk to the 7-11 and does.

2. Martina immediately begins sleeping over at my cousin's house. She doesn't really bother to say goodbye.

3. Man in my yard petting my goat. Really.

4. Travis already has a job working at the Mason's Christmas tree lot. He's there now, unloading a semi full of trees.

5. People just drive into our place and park. We probably don't want to know what they're up to.

6. The cats are all fine. They have figured out the flow between barn and house. Gizmo, the one we held back from the gates of death as a week-old kitten cannot bear to shit outside. So she goes in the shed. Hurrah. Of the 4 cats we put in the barn, 2 stayed there. Of the 4 we put in the shed out back, 3 have stayed there. 2 of the barn cats are pretty sure they're yard cats. 1 of the yard cats has decided the barn is better. The 2 house cats are content with their status as the only two who can live inside and poop outside. No one has stolen one of our cats yet. We, also, are content.

7. 2 dogs. No fence. It's working pretty well, actually.

8. Autumn. 4 large oak trees. It's raining leaves outside like an illustration from a lovely children's book. I missed trees when we lived on our little farmette in Corapeake.

9. Content is a beautiful word.

What Ida Dragged In

2009-11-21T10:23:00.003-05:00

Just the day before the storm this was a field with nothing in it but grass.

What do people think about when they throw this into the river? That was rhetorical. I know what they think: Nothing.

Wow.

The storm with all the attendant flooding helped purge the river.

A few weeks ago I was wondering what kind of volunteer work my 17 year old son could do. Nothing like beginning in your own back yard. We will clean up this trash, climb over the fence and clean up that trash and then we can grow some oysters.

Dear Friends and Fellow Celebrants

2009-11-18T20:41:00.004-05:00

Christmas is coming. The commercials on television, radio and oozing through the ether make it clear: Buy. Buy now. Buy more. Back in the Olden Days, Christmas had manners. Christmas held the door for Thanksgiving and waited politely for the next day. At least. These days, however, the message is: spend, spend, spend.

Personally, I decline. I love Christmas. It is my favorite holiday and I spoil my children and try to do my best by my husband and other close family members. But I also try really hard to purchase gifts made by artisans, craftspeople, preferably locals. Then? Then I'm out of money.

Friends and fellow celebrants of Christmas, please understand that I may like you. It's possible that I even love you...but if you are not blood kin, please do not give me a gift. Please do not expect a gift from me. In fact, this is my gift to you: One less person to shop for. (Or seven, depending on how well you know me.) Drop by and share a glass of cheer but dude, please, please don't come bearing gifts. It's just too much.

This Morning in Chesapeake

2009-11-18T09:58:00.003-05:00

Things are getting better all the time.

My Big Blue Friend

2009-11-16T15:48:00.003-05:00

I've been obsessing about how we are supposed to recycle when the SPSA truck ignores us and we don't have a recycling bin and the plant is closing anyway. Today though, the City of Chesapeake delivered this lovely guy. It was a good day. The shelf by the back door was full of potential recyclables and I don't have the gumption to drive to ... where? ... to put them into a bin. Don't even know that it would be worth it to burn the fuel. But now, it's a moot point.