Scavenging Success!!

I've been wanting a six foot folding table to sort my laundry on, but I couldn't justify buying one. When I hem and haw, I know it's just not right... yet. On my way home from getting bread this morning, I spied with my little eye a long table beside the local school dumpster. "Hmmm, " I pondered, "could that be my heart's desire?" And alas, it was!! Just the top, though, which was probably why it was by the dumpster. Still useful to a clever philly like myself, though. I popped that puppy right in the back of the van, fastened it with my ever-ready bungie cord, and brought it home to meet it's new family. It's heavy enough to sit on top of my rolling computer table (that was serving very inefficiently as my sorting table) without being able to flip off from acrobatic children (but I'm sure they will try at some point). As you can see, I can fit three nicely sorted loads of laundry on what could previouly only hold one. No more heaps on the floor. Oh, I lurves me some scavenging success!!

Chickens on the brain is better than egg on your face, but I might have some of that soon, too.

My friend has me dreaming about chickens. And eggs. As I hope I have inflicted her with guity pangs every time she discards paper and plastic, she has invaded my thoughts every time I crack an egg (which we do a lot in my happy-homemade-baking house). I think I'm going to get on the chicken wagon.

The only thing that keeps me from being completely "Yay, chickens!" is the memory of my mother telling her chicken story: She was romanced by the thought of free, effortless eggs with chickens running playfully about the yard with her children. Until, she discovered all the chicken poop everywhere and one of them pecked at my oldest sister which commenced the shooting of the chickens. I have always had this image of a poultry blood bath in the backyard in defense of her baby. Probably not the way it happened, but at the very least it gives me a bit of grounding on the idea of chickens and that it might not be as care free and wonderful as it seems.

That said, I'm a girl that likes to find out things for herself even if I, too, end up shooting chickens. I've asked the Freecycle world for scrap building supplies, and I've been stalking backyardchickens.com for coop ideas. I really like the look of this coop. It's just tidy and seems so intentional. I figure if I'm going to have chickens, I want to do them justice and give them a nice home- the nicer you treat your chickens, the nicer they will treat you.

I've even put my higher conscience to work in my sleep. Seriously. I came up with a great idea the other night to remedy the "chickens pecked my baby" problem my mother encountered: In my dream, I built a run for the chickens using 4x4 posts and wired not only the outside, but the inside of the frame work so there was a good 4" or dead space between my darling, innocent children (who wouldn't dream of taunting a chicken) and the fowl beasts. I also attached hardware cloth to the bottom of the frame before I sunk it about a foot so Mr. Fox couldn't dig under for a midnight snack. I'm pretty smart in my sleep.

I plan to gather my supplies and build a coop and run this summer for a fun project with Sterling (first summer vacation ever) and actually get the shickens, as Royal calls them, in the spring. I'm thinking 6-8 birds so I can have about a dozen eggs a week. Tasty eggs, from birds we know, cage and cruelty free, right in our back yard- either that or a whole lot of chicken in the freezer. I'm sure there will be updates on my future chicken-farmer status.

Bokashi Madness II (update)

Ha-ha!! I burried the first bucket o' bokashi compost!! Our back gardens have patchy spots of decent dirt, but mostly it's thick, wet, hard packed clay. I figured it would be nice spot to revive with a little burried compost treasure. I'll update again in a month or so with pictures when I dig up my lucious black gold!! I would have snapped some shots of the historic event, but I figured it would be nicer to look at my pretty lilacs than of a rusty shovel and my dirty feet.

If my bokashi obsession doesn't work, I at least have a really nice compost bucket out of the deal.

Pssst...

They are having a sale! Promo code (if you need it) JUNE08. This is where the best husband in the world got my birthday present. Bokashi buckets are $10 off and the bokashi compost starter is 1/2 off, only $5! Just thought I would let you all know. I do plan on making my own bokashi starter and buckets, but for now, this is a great deal for stocking up a little.

A googleplex of folded paper.

My darling five year old is into origami!! He's crazy good at it, too! I'm glad we discovered a focus for his anal retentive precision. I'm collecting origami paper for our summer project of folding one thousand paper cranes. I hate to have him nap all summer (although he very often needs one still, but then again, our whole family likes to nap) so I thought maybe a quiet task of folding a dozen or so cranes a day would be calming in lieu of slumbering. We need to go to the library and sign out Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, too. Take a break from Harry Potter. I thought it might be nice to give the cranes to the Children's Hospital when we are done (and while we are in Portland, zip over to the Children's Museum as a reward for his kindness). It's important for us to teach our children about giving back and giving hope to people that have less than we do.

Just one of those nice days.

Most people don't put "going to the dentist" in the "I get excited about..." category, but they don't have Dr. Findlen. I spent years with a really crumby dentist that I loathed to see, so not only did I stop going but I never sent my children. I am so very excited that I have a great dentist now who takes care of me and my teeth and understands that it's a big deal for mothers to get out and care for themselves. I like to call it my dental-spa. I get excited to go, and I feel relaxed when I'm there.

Since the beginning of the year, I've had seven dentist appointments to make up for the three years it's been since my last visit. I just had my last batch of fillings before my next cleaning in six months, and next week I will have my wisdom teeth removed. Last winter I had a chunk of one fall off, with subsequent chunks since, which is what prompted me to get back on the dental horse. It's pretty gross and embarrassing to have pieces of you falling off as a result of neglect. Kinda hard to ignore that blinking red sign that maybe it might be time to do a little personal maintenance.

I swear I cried every other minute my first visit with Dr. Findlen. It was the first time I had left Molly (#1) and the first time in a long time that I put my children aside to take care of myself. Everyone in that office recognized what a big deal it was, too (#2). From the receptionist to the hygienist to the doctor. No one scolded me for not flossing (#3). More than once, someone said, "Don't worry, we'll take care of you." (#4, 5, 6) They actually asked me how I felt about my teeth. Huh? That started some huge waterworks (#7) because since I've had fillings, I've been embarrassed about my mouth. My wonderful, white, straight teeth embarrassed me because they were full of black fillings. Even on the wisdom tooth that was restored, Dr. Findlen uses white. After he has filled a tooth, I can't tell which one he did. That's some good dentistry, right there.

Not only have I started taking care of my teeth again, but my children have their first cleanings!! I'm so excited. I think it's HUGE to choose my children's dentist. Things like that will have an immense impact on how they view the care of their teeth for the rest of their lives. I am thrilled to have such a friendly office care for my babies.

Top off a wonderful dentist day with some Freecycle goodies and a new consignment shop skirt for me and shirt for Molly-cakes (see pictures), and my morning was complete. It's my husband's birthday, the sun is making it's way out from behind the clouds, and my family is napping. I just don't think it could be a nicer day.

Hello, Joe!

The current money crunch as a result of pro-pane-in-my-butt fuel prices (not to mention the price of gas- geez), has led to cut backs in other areas. It is so sad that when things get tight, the grocery budget gets skinny. When, exactly, did food become a luxury item? Last time I checked, our basic needs were food, shelter, water, and clothing. Seems like we are paying through the nose for all of that stuff, but shoot, they all but give away superfluous crap!! grrr...

One of the things that we do splurge on is good coffee. However, now we only make 1/2 a pot in the morning so that we can cut the bill by half- theoretically. It hasn't quite been by half because we are going to have to dip into the blechy coffee stash before the next payday. Bi-weekly paychecks mean bi-weekly grocery shopping which is really a good thing because it saves on gas and makes you plan ahead. I would go once a month, but fruit doesn't keep that long, or last that long, and I don't have enough room to store stuff. Maybe I can make room, but that will be for truly desperate times when I drop down to once a month outing. I'm not there yet. So sad that I have to say, "yet," like it's coming. More grrr...

Back to the coffee: Wicked Joe. Mmmm... Joe kicks Starbucks's beans. "Coffee should be black as hell, strong as death and sweet as love. -Turkish Proverb/Wicked Joe Philosophy" That's what I'm talkin' about!! I'm all about local, but more so about quality. Wicked Joe has both. We give our favorite (Wicked French- obviously) as presents when we visit family and friends. The more people we convert to this awesome company, the better. We don't get anything for it other than the satisfaction of helping a Maine company succeed among nasty, greedy corporations that would rather stick us at the pump than sacrifice a little profit. They even use renewable resources to power their production. Yay, Joe!!

Wicked Joe should have an online coffee club, though. They have so many tasty choices that it's hard to choose, so we stick with our French. A new tasty coffee every week, automatically payed for from my account and shipped to me with a smaller sample package (for sharing with a friend and luring to the Wicked ways of Joe). There should be a private forum, too, for sharing tips and comments on the best brews. Oh, I'm all buzzy with ideas, and it's not just the coffee talking!!

Psst... Wicked Joe, if you read this, hire my husband because we love you ! He's smart and funny and just needs a company that actually cares so he can harness his drive for new ideas and use it constructively for the good of the planet. We have three cute kids if you want poster children, and I will make you cookies every day! We are sort of a package deal- five for the price of one!

Don't wiggle the noodle

I had a bread day yesterday. I wish I was a real bread baker, but I'm a fake-bread baker. I keep saying I want to bake real bread, but it's so quick and easy to make tasty loaves of banana bread and pumpkin bread and my newest obsession: Amish Friendship Bread. I had looked up how to make a starter batch, but all the reviews were mixed to negative so I figured I would just pine away thinking of the last time I made it (which was maybe 14 years ago- ack, that sounds weird).

No sooner had I given up on the notion of revisiting the tangy, sweet AFB then my dear BFF gave me a starter! OMG! She's in my head, and I love it. For those of you who have never had the pleasure of Amish Friendship Bread, it's like a chain letter for you kitchen. You are given an active yeast "starter" and you grow it on your counter for ten days, adding sugar, milk, and flour until it ferments and multiplies. Then you share the bready goodness by dividing up the batter into "starters" and passing them onto friends. I always keep one for myself because once you have this tasty goodness, you are hooked for a while. Then you add dry ingredients to your remaining batter and crust you pan with sugar and bake to perfection. It's pretty impossible to mess up and there are all sorts of variations and extras you can add. I think we ate two loaves of it yesterday. My children are still young enough not to be able to defend themselves, so I will say that they ate most of it.

So the noodle part: I had learned a trick from an online friend of mine (who also gave me a brownie recipe I need to share) to use a spaghetti noodle to check the doneness of baked goods. I grew up using a toothpick, but I can't seem to keep them around (little boxes of little things are so tempting for little fingers) so I just started stabbing cakes and my fake-breads with knives. Functional, yes, but not aesthetically pleasing. Then came the noodle trick. Love it because I always have pasta on hand and it makes me feel so clever. Hate it because I occasionally have spaghetti in my loaf. You can't wiggle the noodle. Seems like a no brainer, but since I have been used to tilting the knives to test the firmness of the goody innards, I keep forgetting that pasta breaks easier than cutlery. I have yet to come across the broken noodles, though- it might be like that "other sock."

No space unexplored

Oh, Danger Baby (a.k.a. Royal) has grown into a dare-devil little boy, and Adventure Girl is moving up in the rankings of those who give Mommy heart failure. Miss Molly-cakes has discovered that she can open doors and there is stuff behind them!! Oh, my, how exciting!! I'm not a huge fan of blanket baby-proofing because it's more important to explore and learn to listen when they are told, "Don't lick the bleach bottle," or, "The stove is hot, don't touch," or just, "No, thank you, that's not for you to play with." You know, limits and restrictions, not restraint. Baby gates, I love, cupboard door locks, not so much. I try not to have a whole lot of toxic things in the house anyway and I keep sprayers on OFF, so it isn't so bad when they rearrange under the cabinets for me while I'm watching.

However, Molly's recent Mission to Mayhem made me realize that the undercupboards were getting a little neglected. Nothing worse than wasted space in a small house!! Yes, I'm dorky enough to take pictures of my recently reorganized sink guts:

In the bathroom:

In the kitchen:

It's one of those funny things that has stuck with me since childhood: My mom always said that when your space is messy, so is your head. For me, it's the spaces that no one sees like the basement or the attic or under the cupboards. If that space is a mess, I feel disoriented and don't know why until I see the messy space, clean it up, then feel better. It's that same feeling like thinking you left the coffee pot on, but instead it's your trash bags that aren't in line and your baking soda that is askew. With an adventurous little crawly monster in the house, it's just plain safer to know what is under your sink, anyway, and exactly where it is so you know what to tell poison control. Haven't had to call that number yet, but I know enough to never say never no matter how nontoxic you think you are. Danger Boy broke me in (silver lining, silver lining, silver lining...) and taught me two very important words of motherhood: SPEED DIAL!!

Phonetastic

It's been almost five years since we've had a land line phone!! It's been a while in coming, though. One of the biggest drawbacks to having a Mommy cell phone and a Daddy cell phone is that there is no one family phone. So... does that mean my children need to know two phone numbers and exactly who to call about certain things? No, that means it's time to get a house phone. I mean, we have a house now, so we should have a house phone! I'm really excited that I can call my sisters and Mommy and friends and not have to worry about what time it is (didn't really do that anyway) or worry about how many minutes I'm using (didn't worry about that either until I would get a bill and say, "WHAT???") Today is the first day of the "minute free" bliss thanks to the Freecycle friends who donated an unwanted cordless phone to our plight of saving money for the propane bill.

So, what should we do with the cells?? We want at least one for travel and the second one is only $9.99 more so we may as well keep that one, too, which basicly means there should be a twelve step program for cell phone users. It's tough to quit. We have a little over a year in the contract, so almost a year to decide if we want to back away from our cell phone affair. They are just so handy, though. One of those points that convenience tends to drag and trample frugality after kicking it in the nuts and pulling it's hair. $60/month or being connected in case of emergency and urgency? Hmmm...

Who's the pretty baby??

If I was as cute as my daughter, I would want to make out with myself in the mirror, too. She gets such a thrill out of seeing herself that I got off my can (ha-ha, like I'm ever on it) and fished out a mirror from the basement. The frameless one I was thinking of had a chip in it. Grrr... Survey said, "EH," so I de-framed another mirror. Come to find out, the funky grey things that stuck out from under the frame and confused me as to what the purpose was ended up being a plastic frame- kind of like the cheap poster frames with the plastic cover. YAY!! Safe baby, pretty baby, mirror goodness. It took moments, a level, drill, and mirror clips I had on hand and I gave Miss Molly-cakes the best friend in the world. She is always there for her, smiles back, and is sympathetic to her mood. I tell you, they are so close. When she cries, Molly cries harder to see her friend in such distress. So nice to meet someone she can laugh with, cry with, and is always there when she needs her.

I liked this quote and thought I would share with my one reader...

"If you haven't got all the things you want, be grateful for the things you don't have, that you don't want."

-unknown-

Giddeyup!!

Royal gets very angry when I take pictures of his horse, but I managed to sneak a fair one while he wasn't looking. It is his horse, you see, and that apparently means there needs to be some sort of equestrian minor model release form signed. Who knows, but this is by far one of my favorite creations.

He's been wanting to go to the dollar store to get a horse (-on-a-steek) and I've been steering him away from such a purchase because, well, it's at the dollar store. Hobby horses can be SO COOL, I would hate to have one be cheap and crumby when the potential is so great. Mommy-made stuff is always better, anyway.

The orange herringbone upholstery fabric is scraps from my father-in-law when he was working for a Maine retail manufacturing giant and would bring home bags upon bags of crap, I mean, scrap fabric. The interior of the ears was left over upholstery fabric from when I originally recovered the ottoman. The button eyes and "bit" are random buttons from the box, the reigns and mane are old trim from back in the day when I made medieval garb, and the "steek" was from my mother-in-law's "Martha" moment last Halloween when she made the boys goody bags that looked like brooms. I made the pattern (which I'm thinking of selling pdf style on eBay), serged the poo out of seams, tucked in the bottom of the stuffed head with a rubber band (stroke of genius- I tend to figure out the details after I make something), and threw on an industrial staple under the chin to keep the stick from becoming a javolin.

This baby has been cowboy-style, knight's best friend, to the grocery store, t-ball games, friend's houses, and camped out on the couch watching videos. The greatest honor from my dear Royal son is when he sleeps with things. Not just anything is invited to spend the night on the foot of his bed, mind you. There are plenty of toys and treasures that stay where they are at night, but to be requested as a snuggler is truly something for any possession to aspire to. It usually starts under the covers, then a week goes by and it's moved on top of the covers, then after a few nights it lives at the foot of the bed. My Sterling has his beloved TigieBlankie (two things, one word), but Royal likes to change it up with his mood. There is Dear-DeerBlankie (again, two thing, one word) but they are rarely unaccompanied by the obsession du jour. Its sad that most people don't love anything as much as that boy loves some random object he decided was special. I hope he always sees diamonds in the rough.

I heart Dan

The giddiness of a three year old buttoning for the first time is contageous. I heart Dapper Dan. I can't wait to get Dressy Bessy one day for Molly. I have to say that I wish he had snaps and a separating zipper, maybe a toggle somewhere, 'cause there is a LOT of velcro on that boy. Come on, velcro isn't rocket science. There is a reason why there is a certain stereotype with velcro shoes. (Maybe that's just a joke with hubby and I?) None the less (which really doesn't mean anything, but I still like to say it), I heart Dan. He is a great first step in fine motor manipulation, and who doesn't like a soft buddy with a frog in his pocket?? There aren't enough dolls for boys, anyway. I'll take Dan, even with his velcro fettish.

The horse that nearly got away...

Bad, bad blogger. I've been slacking, but I have a good excuse!! In the excitement of a NEW COUCH, my head has been spinning trying to figure out how I'm going to put a silvery-cornflower-shark blue into my decor. Not that any of my furniture really matches, but I'm trying to lean in that direction. So far I have spun up a new ottoman cover that will have matching throw pillows on the couch and one on the rocker. See? I'm trying to match- or at least coordinate. The age of the mismatched, hand me down furniture is passing. I'm growing up, sort of. Maybe it's the birthday, maybe it's having a house all of my very own, maybe it's motherhood, maybe it's (D) all of the above. It's giving me a wonderful mental exercise, though, seeing as I need to do it on the cheap because I got my letter with this year's propane budget at $313/month. Goodbye home renovations, hello heat and hot water!!

"Happy Birthday to ME" or "Bokashi Madness" or "I Have An Awesome Husband" or "My 3yo Likes Boxes"

Ah-hem... (deep breath) Happy birthday to me...
Happy birthday to me...Happy BIRTHDAY dear me...

(and my dad...)

Happy birthday to ME!!

My three year old son thinks the box is better than a Bokashi starter kit, but I beg to differ. How flippin' cool is my husband that he gets me COMPOSTING stuff for my birthday?? I'm such a lucky wifey. Bokashi is this anaerobic composting system (which fits me as I seem to avoid anything aerobic) using efficient microbes to pickle the waste, then you burry it, then in a month you have black gold. I'm soooo excited!! There are recipies for making your own bokashi stuff, but I'll try out the ready made stuff for a while before I make trash barrels full of this stuff. Stuff, stuff-stuff, stuff, stuff... Might be good in the long run, but not yet. Here's where he got it from- there is more info there than I know about it yet. But with any luck, the investment will pay for itself in lessened trash output (you can put pretty much anything food-wise in this system) and "free" compost. (We have clay for dirt. We need compost and soil amendments so we can build it up to workable.) It really amuses me that for the girl that used to loath the outdoors (still don't like the bugs) I'm getting into gardening and composting. Who knew?? Like wine, I keep getting better with age.