What’s happening in my home……?

In my kitchen… Pretty much I covered what my kitchen has seen in My Tuesday Twister post.

With the family… Mikah and Naomi have both had a mild cold this week. Naomi has some poison oak rash, too. But everyone is doing very well. Mikah is excited because he and Jeff got a small 4″ survival knife. Naomi got some stick bugs at the library last week. Haniya and Naomi have been great helps to me in filming for my eCourse. They operate the camera and are endlessly patient with all my “takes.” Jeff’s been able to get home early on some days – he still works a full day because he goes in so early. He also took a day off last week when it was sunny to work in the barn.

Around the homestead… The big news is we got a buck – Cosmo. He is almost 2 and just beginning to get the buck smell. For the time being he’s sharing the barn with the does, but as soon as Jeff puts up a simple shelter in the buck pasture, Cosmo and Starle (a Nigerian dwarf wether) will go in there. We are watching the milk, hoping it doesn’t take on the buck odor. So far, so good. We read that the rule is, if you walk in the milking area and it smells like buck, the odor will get in your milk. So far, there’s no odor where we milk. But could be soon as it gets more concentrated – Cosmo’s area of the barn is adjacent to the milking area. I am eager to get him in his own shelter, but we have to wait until there’s time on the weekend to make that shelter.

I forgot to mention last week that we cut down several old madrone trees that were hanging threateningly over the barn. That has left a big mess to clean up, and Jeff is working on it. Poor Jeff. He’s always got some kind of mess outside to clean up. Have I mentioned lately how everything is MUD outside?

What’s happening in my home……?

In my kitchen… I’m experimenting with different sourdough breads – no knead and minimal knead. The results are very promising! Keeping up with everything keeps me busy. I’ve been videoing myself like crazy, finishing up all the eCourse lessons for the new GNOWFGLINS Fundamentals eCourse I will launch in February. I’m really excited about it and hope it will help many people transform their kitchens and their habits. A side benefit of always having to video is that the kitchen stays clean. I like that.

With the family… We visited friends this weekend and that was fun. I enjoyed seeing another kitchen full of growing things – sprouts and cultures. I took my friend a kefir grain. My children are amazing. Every day I love them more – is that possible? They keep me smiling and enjoying life, not to mention how helpful they are in day to day tasks that need doing, and cheerfully.

Around the homestead… Jeff and Mikah made a work table for the barn. It is so nice. We are storing all our feed bins underneath it, and that works great to conserve space in the barn. We are shopping for a Nubian buck and will keep him at a friend’s house with their bucks (they mainly raise meat goats). We want to have our does bred sometime in February, so I am praying that the Lord would provide a buck, and also solve the issue of transporting the does (or buck) when a doe cycles into heat. We are gearing up to get chickens, but first must solve the big question – what kind of coop? and where?

I did some rearranging yesterday. My desk is in the family room, which also contains the drying rack for wool next to the fireplace (pellet stove), and the other side of the room is my sewing area.

I turned my desk so it would be oriented parallel to the wall, with the computer facing the wall. I also have a bookcase now – it is one of those cheap compressed sawdust bookcases that fits together because of slots cut into each piece. You can see it there creating a boundary between my office and the drying rack.

This is how my “office” used to be, just for comparison. That’s my cute son, Mikah. When we took the picture, we were still waiting for my Mac to arrive.

I needed to rethink the arrangement of my office so I could rig a better background for recording myself during gnowfglins.com video recordings. I’m not sure what I’ll do on the wall behind me.

The rearranging saved me from buying a screen/partition. The view behind me (before) was the fireplace and drying rack. Now it is a wall, which I will work on making pretty. Any ideas? On the wall now are abstract paintings done by the kids a few years ago. I really like them, but I’m not sure how they go with food, which is what I’ll be discussing when I do a video recording.

When I finish tidying the sewing area, I’ll take some pictures and show you that area of the family room. It is almost done. Just a few loose ends to pick up.

By the way, how was your Christmas? Ours was restful. Jeff was ill the whole vacation, so we did alot of sitting around and watching movies and talking and resting. Jeff’s mom gave him the complete MacGuyver season #1 for Christmas, which really came in handy for the downtime. In the quiet weekend, I was able to finish a big video project I’ve been working on for gnowfglins.com, which I’ll be announcing and sharing sometime this week. I also pre-dyed (black) 6 yards of merino wool interlock, which I’ll use for wool pjs, shirts, and hats for all of us. I need to dye more of it; that 6 yards won’t get us that far.

This photo was taken by Jeff’s sister when the kids were in California in the summer of 2009.

At christianhomekeeper.org, Sylvia is hosting an “Attitude of Gratitude” blog carnival each Thursday through the month of December. For this second one, she’s asking us to share about the Little Things for which we’re thankful.

I can say without equivocation that the Littlest Thing for which I’m thankful is water – and running water, at that. We have been dealing with cold weather this week in Oregon (like many others across the country) and experienced frozen pipes, frozen water in the pressure tank, and frozen water in the storage tank. It is not all thawed, but after two days of working in the cold in panic mode, Jeff got water to us again.

In plain words, this week sucked. It was my birthday on Tuesday, and I spent that day and a couple other days out in the cold trying to help Jeff turn the water back on. (As I write this, I’m needing to be going outside with Mikah to hang heating lamps over the storage tank to try to melt the ice inside.)

I feel like I got run over by a herd of buffalo. I have been struggling to cultivate an “attitude of gratitude” and failing at it. In fact, I’ve been fighting against developing a resentful character this week.

I kept blaming God and people who gave us poor advice, and the weather, and where we live, and, and… for everything that went wrong. You know, they’re all to blame, even God because He let it happen (for mysterious reasons of His own that probably have something to do with character development). But I still shouldn’t walk around with a “woe is me” chip on my shoulder.

So I will concentrate today on remembering all the Little Things that make my life grand.

Running Water
Household servants – washing machine and dryer foremost
A warm fire
Rivers
Warm bed
Quilts
Movies for unwinding
Jane Austen books
Good, nourishing food
Hugs and Kisses
Christmas cards from friends and family
Knowing that others are praying for us
Birthday cards

I’m late with adding this to the Attitude of Gratitude – you can be late, too!

At christianhomekeeper.org, Sylvia is hosting an “Attitude of Gratitude” blog carnival each Thursday through the month of December. For this first one, she’s asking us to share about the people in our lives for whom we are thankful.

Since I am a good wife, I am going to tell you that I am thankful for my husband. But I feel doubly so today, on his 43rd birthday.

This will all sound so corny. I don’t usually gush like this.

He’s a good man. He works hard and doesn’t budge from his loyalty to God and his family. I am thankful that he is steady, consistent, persevering, and passionate about the Lord. He doesn’t keep “score” or do anything remotely tit for tat. Obstacles come up and he takes them as they come, not being swayed by past grudges, outside influences, or negative feelings. I’m thankful that I don’t walk alone in this life. He is God’s gift to me and to our children.

Years ago, I printed a poem on nice paper and painted flowers around it and gave it to him for his birthday (or perhaps Christmas). It is still in our bathroom, framed. Neither of us notices it much anymore, but every once in awhile, I read it, and think how true it still is.

Why Do I Love You?

I love you because …
you are
the love of my life,
my very best friend,
my past, my present,
my future,
my forever.
I love you because …
without you
I would not be who I am,
because you inspire me
to grow, and learn,
and to be better.
I love you because …
you love me more
than I could ever imagine,
because you are
my everything.

I know that Jeff doesn’t really do these things for me – it is God working through Jeff to make me a better person and to inspire growth and love in my life.

I am thankful for Jeff, and I am thankful to God for this precious gift.

What’s happening in my home……?

In my kitchen… Thanksgiving was wonderful! We kept the cooking low-key. None of us enjoys an over-the-top meal. Just give us some good food, regular portions, a nice dessert and we’re happy. Haniya has been cooking alot. She goes in the kitchen, follows one of my recipes from gnowfglins.com and produces very good food. I’m so proud of her – and I’m really happy that my daily blogging is paying off right here in our family.

With the family… Thanksgiving was wonderful! Oh, did I already say that? We had five great days, all of us together. We hiked in the Umpqua National Forest on the first day, last Wednesday. Then the other four days (raining) we puttered around, talked, relaxed, got work done. The time together without any deadlines or burdens refreshed us. We are thankful for the time!

Around the homestead… Jeff finished insulating the exposed water pipes in the barn. He and the girls laid old straw bedding down on the mud path into the barn (the animal entrance, not our entrance). He built a “toy” for the goats in their barn. This is really something for them to play and jump on – they love that. He made it from wood planks, tires and some old steps. Hard to describe. I was able to do quite a bit of sewing.

In my “Inner Man”… Working on being more disciplined with my time. Working on leaving my burdens with the Lord. Working on trusting in unconditional love.

Our five-day Thanksgiving break has been wonderful! We’ve enjoyed the downtime immensely – almost surprisingly so. I mean, we didn’t realize how much we needed the break. The kids – mostly Mikah – are tackling the big job of organizing the Legos. (More on that when the project is finished.) I’ve been taking it easy with the cooking, even on Thanksgiving. Our Thanksgiving dinner was simple, nourishing, warming and good.

Jeff has been asking for me to work on his skull cap and this seemed to be the weekend to do that. It helps that he’s been home and accessible for try-ons and input. I tried once or twice last winter to get a good hat for him, and they were close, but not quite. He’s my pickiest customer.

He is wearing hat #4 in these pictures, and we are calling it good! I made it with 100% merino wool interlock from the Nature’s Fabrics co-op, dyed black. The fabric is a dream. The pattern is the same as for Luke Pepper’s skull cap (U2-2 band member’s custom hat), but I use the merino wool interlock instead of ribbed cotton. The crown of the hat is 4 pieces, which are serged together and then coverstitched down for a faux flatlock. This makes the seams look soooo nice. Then the band is added, again serged and coverstitched down. As a side note, I continue to get orders for the custom cotton skull caps, a bit surprising!

I also sewed Jeff two mid-layer wool shirts out of a lighter-weight 100% merino wool jersey in chocolate brown (mentioned in the first paragraph of that link). He is wearing one of them in those pictures up there. We’ve decided that from now on we’ll use the fold-over elastic for all his necklines (that link takes you to a picture). We really like how it works and looks.

Have you been doing any sewing lately? This coming week, I’d like to make wool pj pants for me and the kids. Haniya has outgrown her wool shirts from last year, so it is time to make her some more.

Pegs (first shown) has doubled her milk supply since we put up the hay rack. It could also be that she’s weaning her daughter, Piper. In any case, it is amazing to finally have a goat giving good yields. She is more full each morning!