Day Sixty-Five, Sixty-Six, Sixty-Seven, Sixty-Eight: I'm Way Behind
Day Sixty-Five (Tues):
Some days I feel particularly thin-skinned. Today was one of those days. I waded through the day, feeling sad for no actual reason other that a general feeling that I am doing so many different things, and none of them well. Jeremy has a habit of trying to joke me out of sadness, and I know he's just trying to help, but I had to tell him: "Please stop trying to make me laugh." And so he did, and gave me a hug, and then I let myself cry, and then I felt better. Sometimes, with these bouts of sadness, you can't go over it, you can't go under it, you have to go through it (to quote a certain book about a bear hunt). So through it I went, all day long, until I could finally shut my eyes and sleep it off.
Some days I feel particularly thin-skinned. Today was one of those days. I waded through the day, feeling sad for no actual reason other that a general feeling that I am doing so many different things, and none of them well. Jeremy has a habit of trying to joke me out of sadness, and I know he's just trying to help, but I had to tell him: "Please stop trying to make me laugh." And so he did, and gave me a hug, and then I let myself cry, and then I felt better. Sometimes, with these bouts of sadness, you can't go over it, you can't go under it, you have to go through it (to quote a certain book about a bear hunt). So through it I went, all day long, until I could finally shut my eyes and sleep it off.
Day Sixty-Six (Wed):
In the afternoon today, the kids and Jeremy went into Fort Smith to go to the farm there that Jeremy is helping manage as part of his job with the SCCD. I stayed home and cleaned the downstairs. It took the entire time they were gone to get the living room area clean (our downstairs is two rooms, the kitchen and the living/dining room, and they are both small). But when it was done I could finally sit down and go, "ahhhhhh!" There's room to walk! The desk and table are cleaned off! The futon isn't covered in crumbs! I like my house when it's not a chaotic, filthy mess!
When they came back, it was with another cake from Queen Pee, with the instructions that when we cut it open, we had to film it. Taiya cut it at first, but didn't quite cut to the center. So Jeremy cut in for her, and when he removed the piece of cake, M&M's that had been hidden inside the cake poured out. The kids lost their marbles, they were so excited. It was a little piece of delight. And the cake was delicious. We are getting far too many cakes. My pants are getting tight in the waist from all these cakes.
Another development in the children's world today was that we subscribed to Disney+, finally. We're cheap and don't like to add to our monthly bills if we don't have to, but I really wanted to watch the movie Onward that a friend had recommended, so we are giving it a try. The movie was very funny and sweet, and I cried at the end.
Day Sixty-Seven (Thu):
Today we went to the farm in the afternoon so we could get good enough cell reception for Taiya to have a video call with a friend of hers. They've been doing what they call "voice mailing," which is really them recording voice recordings on the Facebook Messenger app and sending them to each other, and sending each other goofy pictures, or pictures of their dolls or other toys. They are funny and sweet with each other. William and I played around in a field of buttercups and clover while they chatted. The white clover that is all over the pastures has been smelling so sweet the past two weeks, it is so fun to run around in the pastures and just gulp in the air. William likes to try to feed the clover blossoms to the dogs, who take them in their mouth for a moment before spitting them out in disappointment. But he thinks they love them.
Day Sixty-Eight (Fri):
We burned a long pile of branches from the trees Jeremy cleared this past week. It took less time than I thought, and got rid of a whole lot of mess. I kind of get the slash-and-burn thing now. I mean, not from an ecological perspective. But it sure cleaned up a big ol' mess in an hour or two. If we weren't crunched for time with getting things ready for the new shed that's being delivered, we could have turned it all into kindling and saved it for the winter. Or even better, we could have turned it all into biochar and added it to our garden beds, sequestering carbon in the soil and improving our soil water-holding capacity. Or we could have tried hugelkulture. But, we didn't. We dumped used engine oil on it to get it started, then burned it all to the ground. It felt sinful, but it also felt good to have it all taken care of in a single afternoon. William kept finding twigs that he really needed his Daddy to put on the fire. Taiya stayed inside and painted her hands blue. My children are good at finding ways to keep themselves occupied.
At the end of the day today, I got to watch a male and female scarlet tanager playing in the branches of a nearby oak tree. I got out my binoculars and could see them up close. They are such beautiful birds, it was a rare treat to watch them.
So, another week has flown past. I haven't been able to keep up with the blog every day like I usually do. I don't know why it's been more challenging than usual, but I feel like I've had even less time in my day than normal. I don't know how that's even possible.
Some other random notes from the week: Taiya and I are reading A Horse and His Boy, Book Three of the Chronicles of Narnia. I see a lot more of the Christian references than I ever did as a child - they went right over my little heathen head back then. I remember being utterly astonished that they had anything to do with Christianity when someone told me that as a young adult. But even now that I'm aware of it, it's subtle enough to be just an interesting layer of the story. And of course, it's going right over Taiya's heathen head.
We let the chickens out of their coop into a net fence yard, and they, though timid at first at the sight of all the green, soon became happy and comfortable pecking at plants and soil. We have five white birds with fluffy feathery feet, five solid black birds, five tan birds, and three black and white speckled ones. It makes it easy to count to make sure they're all back in their coop at night. They haven't started laying eggs yet, but I imagine in the next month or so we may start getting the first pullet eggs. Taiya has been collecting feathers from their pen to add to hair bows she's been making out of yarn. She has quite an eye for style. But don't worry, she leaves behind the poopy feathers. That wouldn't be fashion-forward at all!
In the afternoon today, the kids and Jeremy went into Fort Smith to go to the farm there that Jeremy is helping manage as part of his job with the SCCD. I stayed home and cleaned the downstairs. It took the entire time they were gone to get the living room area clean (our downstairs is two rooms, the kitchen and the living/dining room, and they are both small). But when it was done I could finally sit down and go, "ahhhhhh!" There's room to walk! The desk and table are cleaned off! The futon isn't covered in crumbs! I like my house when it's not a chaotic, filthy mess!
When they came back, it was with another cake from Queen Pee, with the instructions that when we cut it open, we had to film it. Taiya cut it at first, but didn't quite cut to the center. So Jeremy cut in for her, and when he removed the piece of cake, M&M's that had been hidden inside the cake poured out. The kids lost their marbles, they were so excited. It was a little piece of delight. And the cake was delicious. We are getting far too many cakes. My pants are getting tight in the waist from all these cakes.
Another development in the children's world today was that we subscribed to Disney+, finally. We're cheap and don't like to add to our monthly bills if we don't have to, but I really wanted to watch the movie Onward that a friend had recommended, so we are giving it a try. The movie was very funny and sweet, and I cried at the end.
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| I don't know how Taiya adds these funny filters, but she and her pal have so much fun making faces at each other with them. |
Today we went to the farm in the afternoon so we could get good enough cell reception for Taiya to have a video call with a friend of hers. They've been doing what they call "voice mailing," which is really them recording voice recordings on the Facebook Messenger app and sending them to each other, and sending each other goofy pictures, or pictures of their dolls or other toys. They are funny and sweet with each other. William and I played around in a field of buttercups and clover while they chatted. The white clover that is all over the pastures has been smelling so sweet the past two weeks, it is so fun to run around in the pastures and just gulp in the air. William likes to try to feed the clover blossoms to the dogs, who take them in their mouth for a moment before spitting them out in disappointment. But he thinks they love them.
 |
| This picture was taken after most of the pile was already burned. |
We burned a long pile of branches from the trees Jeremy cleared this past week. It took less time than I thought, and got rid of a whole lot of mess. I kind of get the slash-and-burn thing now. I mean, not from an ecological perspective. But it sure cleaned up a big ol' mess in an hour or two. If we weren't crunched for time with getting things ready for the new shed that's being delivered, we could have turned it all into kindling and saved it for the winter. Or even better, we could have turned it all into biochar and added it to our garden beds, sequestering carbon in the soil and improving our soil water-holding capacity. Or we could have tried hugelkulture. But, we didn't. We dumped used engine oil on it to get it started, then burned it all to the ground. It felt sinful, but it also felt good to have it all taken care of in a single afternoon. William kept finding twigs that he really needed his Daddy to put on the fire. Taiya stayed inside and painted her hands blue. My children are good at finding ways to keep themselves occupied.
At the end of the day today, I got to watch a male and female scarlet tanager playing in the branches of a nearby oak tree. I got out my binoculars and could see them up close. They are such beautiful birds, it was a rare treat to watch them.
So, another week has flown past. I haven't been able to keep up with the blog every day like I usually do. I don't know why it's been more challenging than usual, but I feel like I've had even less time in my day than normal. I don't know how that's even possible.
Some other random notes from the week: Taiya and I are reading A Horse and His Boy, Book Three of the Chronicles of Narnia. I see a lot more of the Christian references than I ever did as a child - they went right over my little heathen head back then. I remember being utterly astonished that they had anything to do with Christianity when someone told me that as a young adult. But even now that I'm aware of it, it's subtle enough to be just an interesting layer of the story. And of course, it's going right over Taiya's heathen head.
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| A big pile of mint I harvested to dry for tea. |
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