Clearing Out

Last night I got to do something I haven't done in a long time. I went through my exercise routine, and then had time to just sit with myself.  Call it meditation, if you choose.  But it was silence.  On the floor.  Sitting with myself.  In the quiet, dim light of our room.  The songs of the woodfrogs, peepers, and crickets outside.

Ahhhhhhh....

And so begins a summer with exercise, focus, and quiet.

Hopefully!  :)

PanMan is growing rapidly, starting to explore pulling on things, and I imagine when he finds the object that satisfies him with the way it fits in his hand, and the counterweight it provides, he just might stand up.  In the meantime, he has moved to rolling over in his sleep, which freaked me out at first (oh no!  The baby is almost on his tummy!) and eating with us at the dinner table.  I have decided to go with instinct and time-immemorial with this baby... which is oddly, more like I did it the first time... and feed him things he can hold.  This includes bread rolls, really ripe pears slices, tiny mushed up pieces of meat, and rice soaked in gravy or meat juice.  I never would have given kids meat before a year old before.  But then I began to think about what humans really would feed their kids before experts and doctors and allergists and German philosophers interfered.  I think that pretty much brings you back to mushy whole grains, overripe fruits and veggies, pre-chewed meat, and grains soak in meat juices.  TADA!  M's new diet.  Besides... isn't he a god of the forest? Doesn't that mean he's slaying the wild deer?

I also began another nice night time ritual last night.  The girls have generally been sliding off to sleep well at night these days, listening to chapters of Harry Potter (we're in Chamber of Secrets now), with either myself or Colin reading (if it's me, Colin is hiding in our room reading Harry Potter #4).  But last night, I began with brushing the girls' hair.  A little frizz-fighter to tame it/condition it (Organix brand rocks my world... smells sooooo good), and a good long brushing.  How calming for everyone! And this morning, hair was tame-able! Little Miss S was excited and amazed to see how knot-free her hair was.  And Nana-Nina's curls are sweetly tamed around her face, and as she said this morning, "Pretty and Lellow".

Big A will be coming at ya with a blog of his own, currently known as "Wade Wilson",  the zombie-loving, chicken-whispering, rodeo-pig-riding, comic-book-illustrator.  At school, in the "mini real" project the whole school is working on, Aidan is working in the art shop, drawing personalized comics and portraits for people.  Many other parents have commented on it, and mentioned how great they think he is.  Check out the school's website, and newsletter on Fridays at this link, to see what they are all up to. http://www.calaisschool.org

I am working on getting the farm stand open on Thursday and Friday, and then next weekend, I hope to be running on a regular basis on the weekends.  It will include eggs (which I am selling out of regularly) and rhubarb, small bundles of herbs, lettuce, nettles, dandelion and burdock root (possibly roasted and made into a coffee substitute), bread, granola, and some of my friend's cookies, biscotti, and sourdough bread.  I'd like to be functioning as a certified farm by fall.

Colin has finished getting the windows in the girl's room upstairs, and the wall work should be a bit more minimal in their room.  Obviously, the floor will take twice as long as A's, but hey... we'll take it!  Also, more stones show up in the wall out front periodically, and the herb garden expands with similar period-ness. I hope to plant some more unusual things.

The porch has the green umbrella up for summer, the big table is out there too, to be used throughout the summer (although we'd love to get rid of the old spool) covered with a tarp to protect it from the weather (and also to provide a place for seedlings, and a hiding spot underneath for outdoor toys).

Well... I need to chase a few hens into the chicken tractors, so that we can ensure we get the eggs... and it is too hot to lock them in the coop, and the Rhode Island Red chicks need to be able to wander into the coop for shade..  (The ducklings have moved out there with the Auracauna chicks). 

If you haven't already, check out the website for the farm!http://www.wildnettlefarm.webs.com

Love to you all!!