Our "guesteses", as Diego says

Hooooooola, estoy aquí!

I've gone AWOL because my parents and sister have been staying with us for the past week. Needless to say, the boys are thrilled and have been thoroughly enjoying their grandparents and auntie (aka "Uncle Jayna" just because it sounds better -- we also have an "Uncle Ashley" and "Uncle Brenda").

It has been a good visit. ♥

Here are a few pictures from some of the festivities.

The first night

I finally figured out how to make a killer Asian noodle soup --

KEY INGREDIENTS:

stock, soy sauce, fish sauce, scallions, bean sprouts

and lots of olive oil mixed in with everything.

The boys with their Great-Grands --

Diego's 5th birthday.

Cooling down with Grandpa --

watching the magic show at the County Fair.

Doing a Transformers Puzzle with Grandma

(circa 1985 - a birthday present from his Daddy)

Truen with one of our Black Swallowtail caterpillars.
We are rearing 4 Monarch caterpillars
and have had 4 Black Swallowtail in chrysalis form --
Two have metamorphosed into butterflies in the last two days.

Hiking at the Prairie Preserve --
we were haaaaaaaaaht.

So much prettier

A friend and neighbor is lending me her old camera until we can buy a new one, so I finally have pictures again. What a relief! It has been a sad month-long drought.

The very first thing I did was go around and take pictures of the house and gardens. We like being able to "go back" and see what things looked like and how they've changed. And my, how they've changed.

The biggest thing that stuck out to me was the garden along our front walk (a ramp because the lady who lived here in the 80's was paralyzed in a car accident). Essentially a dirt patch with a couple of overgrown clumps of iris when we moved in, when it rained, the dirt would splash up on the outside of the house, creating an entirely dingy and disgusting look.

Squeeze, who loves landscaping, has really worked it over in these past three years. It even has a little "pond", with a blue flag iris, water lily and a goldfish. He enjoys creating a more natural look, complete with moss-covered logs and well-placed rocks.

July 2007

Yuck!

July 2010

And it will only get better with each passing year
The mini-fence it to keep the chickens OUT --
They love to dig (and thus, destroy)

One of the things I really appreciate about Squeeze is his pleasure in landscaping and gardening. He even fills the planter boxes with gorgeousness. My main job is to admire his work and talk over ideas.

The other week, a lady who is part of our first-year experimental CSA came out to see the garden with a friend. As they left, I chuckled as I wondered if they thought that I was the one responsible for all the beautifully arranged potted plants and the front flower garden.

Because, honestly, I trim the plants now and then and pull a few weeds. But my main is to enjoy the beauty. I love that.

The glorious sky

Southwestern Minnesota doesn't have mountains or beautiful trees, both components of landscapes that I hold dear and esteem highly. Sights that soothe me.

In fact, it doesn't have much in the way of natural landscapes at all, in the present age of commodity crops. This has bothered me a lot since we've moved here.

It did have beautiful grasslands, filled with an ever-changing array of prairie flowers; but those are gone, caged to small preserves that are scattered and obscure. Ultimately, that is what bothers me most about this area of the country -- true, native landscape is minimal. Shoot, even grass in the form of pastureland is minimal.

But what this area does have, and has grandly, is the most exquisite skyscapes. Magnificent summer storms whirl clouds into color, texture, and form that is nothing short of awe-inspiring.

An example from this weekend:

Un-un-un-un.

The land is seemingly flat because the rolling hills melt together: and because of that, one can see great distances. Storms almost always roll in from the west -- so it is entirely possible to see the gale coming a half-hour or more before it arrives, with billowing clouds of various shape and color that often look like enormous ships rolling in.

It is glorious.

I am so glad I am finding beauty I can appreciate here (aside from our small parcel of 15 acres, which I love). It is so refreshing. Call me dramatic, but the endless monoculture crops and scrubby trees have been hard on my soul these past few years.

Recolonizing the gut through fecal transplants

Yep, poop transplants.

This was local news throughout Minnesota a couple of years ago, but I just stumbled upon a New York Times article published on the subject this week.

Ultimately, I think this information can be synthesized to argue that the "progress" we've made over the last couple of generations can, uncontrolled, cause a lot of problems.

Living in a sterile, germ-free environment? Not a good idea. It's better to roll in the dirt than over-use hand sanitizer. The 32% nationwide c-section rate? A big problem. Administering antibiotics with such regularity? Yikes. Pumping our food animals with antibiotics? Triple-diple-doople-yikes. Eating easy, processed, denatured foods? A slow killer.

Scientists are not just finding new links between the microbiome and our health. They’re also finding that many diseases are accompanied by dramatic changes in the makeup of our inner ecosystems. The Imperial College team that discovered microbes in the lungs, for example, also discovered that people with asthma have a different collection of microbes than healthy people. Obese people also have a different set of species in their guts than people of normal weight.

In some cases, new microbes may simply move into our bodies when disease alters the landscape. In other cases, however, the microbes may help give rise to the disease. Some surveys suggest that babies delivered by Caesarian section are more likely to get skin infections from multiply-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. It’s possible that they lack the defensive shield of microbes from their mother’s birth canal.

Caesarean sections have also been linked to an increase in asthma and allergies in children. So have the increased use of antibiotics in the United States and other developed countries. Children who live on farms — where they can get a healthy dose of microbes from the soil — are less prone to getting autoimmune disorders than children who grow up in cities.

Some scientists argue that these studies all point to the same conclusion: when children are deprived of their normal supply of microbes, their immune systems get a poor education. In some people, untutored immune cells become too eager to unleash a storm of inflammation. Instead of killing off invaders, they only damage the host’s own body.

Sweltering for the cause

We battled mosquitoes and heat and sweated like hogs this weekend and got a good chunk of the East Garden paper and strawed. What a relief!

Notice I say, "we". Squeeze thankfully didn't have to duke it out alone because I helped paper while Squeeze hauled the straw. It is so much more pleasant to work together vs. suffer alone. And just this week I've been feeling more like myself. My energy levels are stronger -- it feels so good.

Thursday will be (holy smokes!) 15 weeks.

We finished the entrance, a major path, and the tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant -- a major feat and definitely the hardest piece of the garden. The rest of the job will be paths, all very straight, and minus the task of working around the garden plants. Cake. Yeah, right. Well, at least easier than what we did today.

We also found two sphinx moth caterpillars on some watermelon vines. Yesssss! We put them in a terrarium and will rear them until metamorphosis. It is going to be so interesting.

How delightful!

I just went out and picked a cucumber for a snack.

Nummmmmm . . . I love that.

Nothing better

Honestly, is there anything tastier than a green bean just picked from the garden? Eating one always reminds me of my grandpa and his garden from my girlhood. Delish.

Feeling optimistic again

We've felt a little down about our garden this year, particularly Squeeze. Not because things aren't coming along nicely, because they are, but that we have been so swamped with everything (gardens, new gardens, orchard disappointments, outside chores, pregnancy, work, lack of sleep, exhaustion, etc.) that we weren't able to paper and straw either garden until last weekend.

Our West Garden, filled with squash, pumpkins, zucchini, cucumbers, pole beans, potatoes, and new this year, looked like a lawn with small vines sticking out of it. Depressing.

Our East Garden, filled with "everything else", including 40 tomatoes (!!!) and 20-something peppers, (still) looks like a weed patch mixed in with large blocks of glorious garden vegetation. Not as hideous or overwhelming to look at, but an ENORMOUS task nonetheless.

The mosquitoes have been particularly bad this year, too, because of all the rain, which added to the anxiety about wanting/not wanting to finally bite the bullet and commit the 4-5 hours it would take to accomplish the task at hand.

Not to mention that I am basically a non-factor this year. With how much I need to eat just to maintain regular life, we didn't want me out in the garden, sweating and expending massive amounts of energy. I don't have much in the reserves this year.

So, that being said, Squeeze finally got out to the West Garden, our new garden, and paper-and-strawed the entire thing a week ago yesterday. He was woozy from the heat by the end, but what a relief it was.

So instead of looking at a grassy, baby vine patch, we are actually eyeing up a real garden.

It feels so good, particularly for Squeeze, who feels the 100% of the pressure to "get it done" squarely on his shoulders. It was starting to feel like too big of a job to even tackle - so overwhelming.

But it is gorgeous now, ladies, gorgeous. (I wish I had a picture, but our camera is kaput after Diego accidentally dropped it onto a cement floor a couple of weeks ago.) And the best part about it is that it is virtually work-free (aside from harvesting) for the rest of the season. Definitely worth the work.

And today we ate 3 cucumbers and saw several little zucchini that will be ready in a matter of days.

Delicious!

Now . . . the East Garden.

FEED ME

My little belly is starting to look like a lil' belly, mostly. Kind of. I will be glad to start looking a bit pregnant, because I'm sick of looking just "thick in the middle". Doh. I hate that.

It will be 13 weeks on Thursday.

I have been absolutely craving red meat this pregnancy. Funny, because I ate less meat throughout my twenties, in which both previous pregnancies took place, and I never felt cravings for meat with them. Ever.

But this time around, I can tell a difference in my energy levels well into a full day after eating red meat. It is extremely noticeable. I need to eat meat to feel anything even resembling "normal" for longer than a half-hour.

The unfortunate kink this story is that our quarter-cow ran out at the end of April. I don't do store-bought meat, so everything has aligned into inducing a bit of a meat famine during my time of need. It has been terrible.

We recently joined a brand-new online local foods co-op, but didn't order enough meat that first month (May), maybe 6 lbs? I got wise in June and ordered 25 lbs, but that didn't arrive until yesterday. Ugh! I've been starving! I have been eating meat roughly once a week for the past month, which is definitely not enough.

I have been exhausted, always hungry, and feeling like a husk of myself for more than a month now. It has been terrible. I've been staaaaaaaarving. Eggs, which I am also eating in good amounts, don't cut it. Beans-a-plenty aren't doing it. Cheese is a good snack, yes. Yogurt gets me through the night.

I need meat.

I've even made the trip into Big Town, SD three times in the 10 days to eat a locally-sourced grassfed burger at the only good restaurant in the vicinity. A double-cheeseburger, no less. With baked fries and coleslaw. Absolutely dreamy.

(The boys have been enthralled with the animal mummies in the National Geographic at the restaurant. That, and the frozen baby mammoth.)

I just can't wait to feel normal again.

Truen's first hair-cut

The hair-cut was over a month ago, but my parents, let alone any of you, have yet to see it. This pregnancy has put me in a major communication funk. I'm so hungry and tired I hardly have the umph for stuff like that -- it just seems too hard.

Let alone not having much down-time now that Diego isn't napping. I've thought about implementing Quiet Time, but that is really the only time I have to be alone with him. We usually end up snuggling or reading or looking for butterflies together.

And staying up late...? Forget about it.

But anyway, back to the hair-cut. Sometime in mid-May, I had had enough. Truen was hot and sweaty and his bangs were in his eyes. It needed to be taken care of and RIGHT THEN. So I pulled myself together and did it.

I was hardly even sad while cutting it - it was so long over-due. And I've really been enjoying seeing all of his sweet face this past month. He looks like such a big boy!

The "before" shot

The pickle was to keep him chill --

It worked for the most part, kind of.

"After"

Just last week, actually --

On his favorite, the "Big Scawry Sthlide".

And really, it is just half a hair-cut. I was able to complete "most of it" the first time 'round before total meltdown. And I just haven't re-visited it. Too tired.

Thursday is 12 weeks.

More baby chickies

We had two hens that went broody this spring. Due to timing and "just life", instead of further investigation and intervention . . . we just let things happen. Oh dear.

For me, it was the exhaustion and trying to keep up with eating and sleeping in the thralls of early pregnancy. For Squeeze, it was working outside until dusk every day. Neither of us really had the time or foresight to READ about it. And being so green, we ultimately didn't have a clue.

Things have worked out fine in the end, but it has been a slightly bumpy road with a peppering of, "Now what?" along the way.

What I should have done was remove the broody hen to a different location, to let her sit on her eggs in peace. Instead we let her sit in a nesting box, of which the problems were two-fold.

First off, she moved nests three different times. Each time, we gathered up her warm eggs and inserted them underneath her, along with all the new eggs. Because of this, her eggs were in all different stages of development. Not to mention that she was sitting on 16 of them.

So why did she move to another box...? Sitting hens get off the nest only one time per day -- to poop, eat, and drink. If another hen comes and sits in her box, she gets confused and moves to another nest. Thus the isolation. Let the girl sit in peace. Playing Musical Nests doesn't make sense. But of course, we hadn't read about it at that point, so everyone was confused.

We are so green.

Secondly, when the second hen went broody, we were having major traffic jams in the nesting boxes. When that egg needs to come out, it NEEDS TO COME OUT, not unlike a major poop or childbirth. Hens were piling up on top of each other, lining up, glaring, scowling, scolding, and trying to kick each other out of nesting boxes.

To make a long story short, our first Mama Hen, with two chicks, got up off the nest several days after her chicks hatched. Priority is given to her live chicks, which makes sense.

So I took the second broody hen, moved her to her own space, and put Mama Hen's eggs under her. She had been playing Musical Nests so prolifically that she wasn't even sitting on any eggs. The poor girl.

So...that Mama Hen hatched three chicks, two of which died without even having time to dry out. My theory is that she was off the nest with the first chick when they hatched and they got too cold and died, though I'm not sure.

Finally Mama Hen #2 got of her nest with her little chickie, too. She had been sitting there long enough. Priority goes to the fluffy one that walks.

There were 12 eggs left in her nest. Neither warm, nor cold.

So Mama Hen #3 (me) gathered up the eggs and make a slap-dash, homemade "incubator" out of a one-and-a-half gallon aquarium with a glass pan for a lid, straw and wet rags for humidity, and a heat lamp for warmth.

Here it is...

My homemade "incubator"

I didn't know if it would work, of course, and everything I read online was dismal in predictions for the success of hatching eggs without an incubator with precisely controlled temps and humidity. But I had to try -- I had already candled all of the eggs and most of them had fully-developed (totally black) chicks.

It has been three days now, and I've been a diligent Mama Hen, checking on the temperature regularly and waking up at night to make sure the rag hasn't dried out (correlating nicely with the pee-every-night during pregnancy thing).

Yesterday morning when I went to check on them, I heard peeping and a faint pecking. Sure enough, one of the eggs had pipped! The little one worked on it all day, sleeping a lot; and when I woke up at 2:00 AM to pee/check on the chick, the crack had turned into a hole and the peeping and pecking had gotten a lot stronger. Eek! It was so exciting.

By the time I woke up this morning, the chick had hatched and was already dried off. I moved it to a brooder box, because it was acting like it was too hot. Now that I am a Mother Hen, I made sure it had a little piece of flannel to snuggle under, and it promptly went to sleep.

The first hatched chick!

Now we are patiently waiting for more chicks to hatch, which is likely to be soon -- Diego and I heard peeping in the "incubator" this morning!

6/20 UPDATE:

So sad -- the baby chickie who was peeping in the "incubator" must have died, because I could hear it peeping all day on the 15th, but after that . . . silence. None of the other eggs have made a peep or crack since and they are presumed dead. A few of the eggs have started weeping and stinking, so we know they are dead. The one little chickie is doing well, though. We'll put it in with the 8 guinea hen keets that we are getting on Tuesday so it won't be so lonely, poor thing.

Life is easier with a garden

You're looking at:

chard, kale, mustard, lettuce,

potatoes, beans, spinach gone to seed, leeks, onions

In my opinion, one of the best things about having a garden (or a CSA share) is being forced to "use what you have". These past few years, I have been introduced, by default, to a wild variety of vegetables and herbs that I would have never thought to pick out at the grocery store.

Pak choi? I had to figure out what to do with that this spring. I cut it up and put it in a Udon noodle stir-fry, yo . . . delicious.

I've been making my own salad dressing with chopped dill and scallions with yogurt (and cream, if I have it), lemon juice, and salt and pepper. This girl has been craaaaaaaaving creamy dressings.

I just made kimchi, of all things, with the chinese cabbage that I had no idea what to do with. With a bit of chopped radishes, scallions, garlic, and ginger. It is fermenting out on the counter, of course.

In all honesty, I think it makes food prep easier and more interesting. You actually have something to work with, and better yet, it is right out back. The produce is fresher, more varied, and its uses are more plentiful and spontaneous.

I love it, I really love it.

I might as well tell the world

It has been so quiet around here, without the rooster. It's amazing - it sounds like a deserted island outside vs. chickenville. Soft breezes are blowing into the silence.

So, with a jarring change of subject, remember last summer? When I un-announced a pregnancy? Oh dear, yes. That was humiliating.

Well, as it turns out, my hormones were completely out of whack. All kinds of weird things were going on with my body: horrible vaginal infections that occurred in conjunction with my cycle (between days 6-8 and again on day 20), urinary tract infections, night sweats, funny smells, erratic cycles (anywhere from 18 days to 79 days), etc. It was horrible.

Long story short, I went to a chiropractor this winter who specializes in muscle testing. From his testing, he deduced that I had a staph infection, one that I had had for an extremely long time, and it was finally wreaking havoc on my lady gear (and my face). I took the supplements he gave me for 3 months, and, again, long story short, it worked.

Everything I've been dealing with (except my face) cleared. After a year of turmoil, my hormones settled and went back to normal. It is so nice to feel normal again.

And now I'm pregnant. Due in early January.

Ha-HA. Surprise!

And that was the end of the rooster

It took us about a half-hour to butcher our beautiful rooster tonight, from start to finish.

He has been a wonderful rooster, simply wonderful; until about a week ago, when he started ruffling his neck feathers at Diego. His aggression increased; until Wednesday, when he full-out jumped at Diego, unprovoked, with his feet stretched forward in attack. Diego had just been standing there, maybe 10 feet from him. It scared the poor little guy, and bruised his hip, but otherwise he was alright.

And unfortunately, that was the end of the rooster.

Aside from a little sadness, we are fairly proud of ourselves. Instead of killing and tossing (as has happened before in our greener days), we were actually able to butcher him to eat -- with the aide of our memory from the family butchering day last fall and Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens by Gail Damerow. It was a quick and smooth process.

I am reminded, again, of what it means to be a meat-eater. We are so disconnected from how we get our food! I am re-amazed. And honestly, a little horrified. To watch the life-blood flow out of another creature, destined to be your meal, is sobering to say the least. It is hard to grapple with.

He couldn't help it, the poor rooster. He was just doing his job. But, unfortunately, the parameters of his job stretched to include attacking innocent 4 year olds.

We just couldn't abide by that.

No WAY

No way. No way! This is too hilarious. And I can still remember every single one of their names. Ohhhhhhhhh, Jordan. ♥

From my new favorite laugh-a-roo, Awkward Family Photos.com. It is just too much.

Streaming

No time for anything other than a streaming list of my thoughts...

• The garden is phenomenal this year. We are eating all kinds of things: chard, kale, spinach, lettuce, radishes, onions. I need to post a picture, because it looks like a real garden now instead of a flat patch of dirt.
• Salsify flowers are gorgeous. They are purple and open in the morning hours. As a biennial, it is a plant from last season that we are letting go to seed this year. Pictures! I need to do that.
• Our baby chicks being hatched by Mama Hen are doing fabulously. There are two now. We are SUCH greenhorns, it is outrageous. I've been so tired and busy the last month that I just read about taking care of broody hens and it turns out we should have moved her to her own space instead of setting up shop in the coop. Doh!
• They chicks are so cute, and it is fun to watch her mother them. It actually gets me a little teary. She is showing them how and what to eat and drink. They snuggle up under her breast feathers. She purrs and makes very low clucking noises to them. It is the sweetest thing ever.
• Truen has no limp at all -- one month later and he is 100% back to normal.
• Truen had a bit of nostalgia for his broken leg last weekend. He was saying, "Remember when I broke my leg?" and "Remember my cast?" and "Remember how I crawled around in my cast?" Then he insisted that we put his cast back on (tied in place with a scarf) and he wore it for more than an hour on two different days. It was pretty cute.
• Our Baby CSA is in process. We have 6 customers this summer! We originally planned on practicing on only two families, but the word spread and we had interested parties knocking down our door. The best thing about it - we have enough garden for them. Un-un-un-un.
• Diego is obsessed with bird nests and worms this spring.
• Truen had a quick, unexplainable 24-hour fever with no accompanying symptoms this week. He was lethargic and slept a lot, but had an appetite the morning of the second day. I am actually glad for it (not that I wished it to be) -- but I look at it as the flexing of his immune system. It gave the old boy some practice, and who knows -- maybe it cleaned his system out a bit.
• It is so lovely to have the leaves on the trees and birds in their nests.
• Truen heard a Mourning Dove cooing in the trees the other morning and said, "Hmmmm...that must be an owl." This kid is amazing! He is so keenly observant of his surroundings. He notices clouds moving in the sky, honey bees on clover flowers, ant hills, and wonders about the sounds birds make.
• I don't ever remember being that honed in on my surroundings. I asked Squeeze if he was, as he has always been obsessed with systems as a Rational. And he said, yes, he believes he was. Aware. In tune. Interested. It's amazing how "they are what they are" basically as soon as they come out.

A few observations

• I think radishes are the most beautiful spring vegetable. That red makes my eyes buzz.
• Why do clothes have to wear out? My favorite brown pants, of which I have two pair, of which were to replace my former pair of brown pants that wore out, are wearing out. What a pain.
• Life seems to go faster each passing year. How is that possible?
• We got a fiddler crab and I think I'm more excited about it than the kids. We are going to get him a few more to keep the old boy company. He was what you call, an impulse buy. Not a good idea when getting a pet. And guess the guilty party...? It wasn't Squeeze, that's for sure. Hee?

Workin' it

I am in the midst of planning Story Hour for both the 4-8 year olds and 9-12 year olds for the Summer Reading Program at our little library this summer. Last year, I did just the 4-8 year olds.

We will be doing two books a week. The first is water-themed with books about sharks, lobsters, otters, pirates, geese and ponds, etc. The other book will be character-based, using it as an opportunity to build the children's collection. June is Ezra Jack Keat's Peter. July is Mr. Putter and Tabby. August is Curious George. Believe it or not, but our library has NO Curious George except the spin-offs from the PBS show. Ay.

The 9-12 year olds did a puppet show based off a fairy tale last year, but the SAHD who organized it went back to work this spring. Oy. However, we did notice last summer that the older kids enjoyed being read to as much as the younger ones, so we decided to make it simple and do a Story Hour for them this year. We'll see how they like it.

Unfortunately, due to some unforseen complications I am just finishing things now...yikes. We start the first week of June. Volunteer postcards go out tomorrow.

Crook-crook-crook

One of our hens went broody last week and is sitting day and night on a clutch of eggs. She's in one of the nesting boxes in our chicken coop. Excitement!

Hopefully we'll get to see a mama hen with her baby chicks. It sounds thrilling. And I'm sure it will make me feel doubly-sorry for the little chickies we have in boxes in the garage, with no mama but a heat lamp to hover over them. It will be so interesting - we are all very pleased.

Stuck

I'm at that point of the year again where the root cellar is empty and the garden is only producing lettuce, radishes, and spinach.

I have no idea what to eat. I am like a deer in the headlights.

Going to the grocery store or having to plan into the future is unappealing - what a drag. I'd rather just have "whatever" out of the garden (or root cellar), then have to figure out what to do with it. It is so much easier.

So it's eggs, again. Mrarrrrrr!

Delish

Our household is currently head-over-heels for steamed cauliflower with butter (or olive oil) and salt.

What could be easier? I steam it whole and then we hack it up and feast. The boys, I'm not kidding, ask for seconds, thirds, and fight over the last bits. It is that amazing.

The Dirty Dozen and Clean 15

The 2010 Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 Lists are out, published by the Environmental Working Group through FoodNews.org.

The produce on the Dirty Dozen is most contaminated by pesticides - and what you should be willing to shell more out for organic. Because you're eating those chemicals, you know. The Clean 15 are the lowest in pesticides.

The Dirty Dozen:

1. Celery
2. Peaches
3. Strawberries
4. Apples
5. Blueberries
6. Nectarines
7. Bell Peppers
8. Spinach
9. Kale
10. Cherries
11. Potatoes
12. Grapes (Imported)

The Clean 15:

1. Onions
2. Avacado
3. Sweet Corn
4. Pineapple
5. Mangos
6. Sweet Peas
7. Asparagus
8. Kiwi
9. Cabbage
10. Cantaloupe
11. Watermelon
12. Grapefruit
13. Sweet Potato
14. Honeydew Melon

Though really, the best choice is locally produced food...and/or organic. We need sustainable agriculture, and at the very least, organic agriculture. Vote with your fork! Change the way food is brought to your table.

From China, Chile, and California...? Or from your state, from your farmers. Join the fight!

This must be what it feels like

ANOTHER JOURNEY

Another journey. The southern provinces,
Pennsylvania. I think also of you

in your wandering exile. What are
the differences? Perhaps only

the speed of change. A swallow here
zooms across the pond, becoming

a winter jay on the farther shore.
Snow whirls in the pass, torrential

rain drenches the cabbage fields,
the palace grounds are enshrouded

with mist. Old age and final illness
come with the swiftness of the Yangtze

flooding in springtime, or like
the quick unreeling cinematograph.


Hayden Carruth
A Summer with Tu Fu
Scrambled Eggs & Whiskey
Poems 1991-1995

First salad of the season

We ate our first garden salad of the season this evening - unusually early in Minnesota without cold frames or a greenhouse. But hey, we'll take it! Complete with different varieties of lettuce and spicy little radishes. Deluxe.

Incidentally, we also finished off our last squash from last season: butternut. What a keeper! The rest of our squashes - sunshine, buttercup, other butternuts - are long-gone. And some of the sunshines and buttercups were slightly moldy by the time we got to them mid-winter.

Butternuts are evidently superior keepers. Note to self.

I can't believe it

I just frittered away an hour doing two things:

1) Paging through the "old school" pictures of an elementary school classmate on Facebook. Not even a friend, folks - we just rode the same bus and lived in the same neighborhood. AND, I'm not even friends with her on Facebook. I accidentally bumped into her name through another persons's page. The pictures were junior high/high school, well after I had moved to an entirely different school district and town. I recognized a lot of people, though. Weird.

2) Spitting all over my computer screen chortling over this site: Awkward Family Photos. Go down to the bottom and hit "Older Posts" - that's where the good stuff is. This is the page that created the most spittle to clean up, though the cat skeleton is the weirdest. Wow.

Mishmash

• Truen got his cast off today - his little right leg was furry, scaly, and softer and smaller than his left leg. Saaaaad. But he's walking, a bit. With a limp. All in due time...
• There was a Public Hearing for our Small Town's proposed library project - and the townsfolk were 100% in favor of it. There wasn't one naysayer. Yesssssss.
• Ohhhhhh . . . perhaps I forgot to tell you? A building in town was donated to the city for the library. They are moving ahead with the application, have hired an architect, and we will be getting a new library. Not if, but when. Maybe by next spring? Less than a year and a half after we formed our Friends group! Yesssssssss - high-five!
• I stopped reading through Wendell Berry's Agrarian Essays about half-way through. It wasn't that I wasn't interested, but because the writing is so meaty and it spurred so much contemplation. As spring has picked up the speed of life, I just didn't have the time or umph to keep on. I'll pick it up again when I have the time to give it the attention it deserves.
• Meanwhile, on to something a little more easily digested - The Dirt on Clean: And Unsanitized History by Katherine Ashenburg
• I realize how hysterical this may seem to some people . . . this is my relaxing reading?? Oh, but it is! It feeds my insatiable curiosity and reads like a breeze.
• Don't you think the history of personal hygiene sounds fascinating...?

Here Come the ABCs

Diego self-initiated a spontaneous interest in drawing letters this week. (He's 4.5) We were coloring with sidewalk chalk with the cousins on Wednesday, and he drew an "X", "T" and "i".

"Look! I drew letters, Mama!" he said.

Later that night, at home, he picked out the exact same letters from our refrigerator magnets to show Squeeze what he had drawn that day. Again, all on his own, though the only letter he could verbally identify was the "T".

The next day, he drew "X", "T", "M" and "P". When I asked him what each letter was, "X" was "H", "M" was "K", "T" was correct again, and "P" was "Little D". I thought that was particularly interesting, as "P" truly is a flipped "d". I wonder if that was actually connected in his mind...? Perhaps subconsciously.

He still can't say his alphabet (I don't drill him on it), but I think I'm going to have some copy work ready for him when he is feeling inspired. We did a little bit of it yesterday and his favorite letters were "A", "I", "H", "X", "T" and "P". He tried "C" too, only it was square-ish and backwards, which he was disappointed about.

It is so fun to see the beginnings of reading readiness showing up . . . and so spontaneously, too.

Gadding about

After almost a week of gallivanting and visiting with family and friends, Diego said it best last night as he ran inside to go potty.

"I am glad to be at my house," he said, so happily. Part of the pleasure in that statement for me is that he spent a good chunk of time in woe before we left, sad to say goodbye to his "beautiful cousins".

But yes, it feels very good to be home --
Though visiting is so fun. Love it.

At Lyndi's house in St. Paul with Uncle Brent --

Schlepping across the sidewalk in his new roller skates,

Thrifted. He was so excited about them!

With Great-Grands O.,

and a Great-Aunt and Uncle,

and a Great-Great Aunt

who couldn't wait to get home to feed the cats.

Brent snuggling with Gram O.

Sidewalk chalk with some of the cousins.

Truen had me write,
"Grandpa, Grandma, I love you."

He's a cautious one

As I was reading The Marvelous Journey Through the Night aloud to Truen this morning, a book about sleepy-time dreams, a particular portion of the illustrations really stuck out to him.

He pointed to it and said, "Dat guy walking over da house! Dat's daaaaaaangerous."

So it's true: they must be born that way.

News, Part II

I forgot . . . I left something out.

• Does everyone know that one of our future goals is to operate a CSA...? Still a few years out, but definitely something we are working towards.
• With that in mind, this summer we are experimenting with two local ginea pigs: a family and an individual, both interested in subscribing to that weekly box of fresh produce, at rock-bottom prices. We need some practice and figured it was a good idea to start out small...really small. I'll be making my weekly delivery on Wednesdays: Library Day.

News from the homestead

• Our garden is half-planted (we are 18 days ahead of last year): peas, kale, cabbage, spinach, leeks, lettuce, two rows of potatoes, a new asparagus bed, etc.
• We have been harvesting parsnips and salsify that we wintered over in the ground - perfect timing, because just ran out of root-cellared carrots last month.
• We are getting around 18 eggs a day.
• The chickens are running free again, which cuts down on feed costs; and this year, Squeeze put up 3 foot chicken wire around the perimeter of our flower/herb gardens to keep them from digging (and destruction). Amazingly, this is working.
• We are going to have a "West Garden" in addition to our existing garden, now known as the "East Garden".
• West Garden = sweet corn, pumpkins, squash, watermelon, musk melon, potatoes, pole beans
• East Garden = carrots, radish, cabbage, broccoli, kale, chard, potatoes, parsnips, salsify, peppers, tomatoes, peas, bush beans, lettuce, horseradish, sunflowers, celery, okra, decorative corn, tomatillos, eggplant, leeks, onions
• We are taking back the perimeter of our property from the corn/soybean commodity crop rotation and plant it with native grasses and flowers. We took back the "Front Four" acres last growing season, which our neighbor planted with alfalfa - a three year commitment.
• Those pesky rabbits killed more of our fruit trees - a couple of apples and a plum. The snow was so high that they were able to get over the barrier and chew almost all the bark off around several saplings. Squeeze is going to encase them in chicken wire to their very tips this year: evidently, 4 feet wasn't high enough in an extra-snowy winter. Doh!

A Special Truen Update:

• He is scooting, rolling around, getting up and off of furniture, climbing stairs, crawling, doing somersaults, and going down the slide - I would say it is safe to conclude that his pain has desisted. Thankfully.
• We go into the Orthopedic Surgeon again this Thursday afternoon for a check-up. I'm sure they will do another x-ray and assess the situation. At the last check-up, they cut his cast on the side and put in a wedge to move the break to a 4 degree angle (previously healing at a 9 degree angle).
• If all goes according to the forecasted plan, Tru-babes should have his cast off in a week or so. I can. not. wait.
• Based off the stories from my 5 yo nephew, who broke his leg in the same spot in January, it may take awhile for him to ease back into walking. They said there was a lot of cramping at first and it took awhile for him to gain the strength and courage to try walking again. It makes sense . . . those muscles aren't getting used inside the cast. Our nephew is still limping in April - not because it hurts, but because his leg is weak. He was in his cast for 7 weeks, though, and his break was worse; I'm really hoping we can drop Truen's cast like a hot rock at 4 weeks. Maybe our transition will be easier? I can only hope. I want this over with.

Be My Wife

I adore David Bowie. Be My Wife is one of my favorite songs, off my favorite album, Low, cut my favorite year, 1977. And, in addition to all the other venerated things about Bowie, I really enjoy his theatrics. And pizzaz. And smarts. He's the package deal.

The title of my last post reminded me of this song for obvious reasons.

Be my wife

This afternoon, Diego cried piteously over the fact that he cannot marry me when he grows up. "But I want you to be my wife!" he wailed. "You are the most beautiful!"

The poor little guy. I remember a similar conversation very well, around the age of five, with my own father. My dad was tucking me into bed for the night and explaining why he couldn't marry me, because he already was married to my mom. I remember it boggled my mind at the time. How could I not marry my dad? He was the best!

The feelings were that of the desire to be with him, and my parents, forever. Taken care of. Safe. Loved. Not that I could have explained that then. But I can so easily remember those emotions, and the feeling of being a little scared that I couldn't marry my dad when I grew up. What else was there?

And that is exactly what Diego displayed this afternoon. "I don't want anyone else!" he bawled. "I want you!"

And you know, it makes me feel a little sad too. It is hard to remember that it won't "always be like this". Life changes gradually, and I know it is and feels normal, but trying to imagine that change now hurts.

I am reminded of the time when Diego was two months old, when I sat in our room, holding my beautiful baby, and wept miserably - grieving over the horrible truth that he would never be two months old again. So silly, I know, but my throat hurts and my eyes smart just thinking of it.

My mom has said something to the effect of, "You love them all along the way." Love grows and changes with them. I love Diego just as fiercely and affectionately as I did when he was a baby, only he is four years old now.

An earnest little four year old who wants to marry his mama.

I love him so much, it hurts. ♥

Way more demanding than usual

Just checking in to say --

Having a 2.5 year old with a broken leg is a lot like having a baby again, only this baby is enormous, cranky, and knows what he's missing out on.

He has also slipped back into long-gone nasty habits, like waking me up all night long demanding to nurse, then howling angrily when he doesn't get what he wants. Bah! It's terrible.

I should say, though, that little Truen is doing very well overall. His pain is nearly non-existent and he is starting to move around - stand, scoot, roll-over, etc. He plays with his toys with equal exuberance from his little stool next to the loveseat as if he were standing at the play-table.

That being said, I can't wait until things are back to normal.

Unbelievable, I know

For the record, two year olds can break bones. Yup. And yikes.

Truen and Diego were happily wrestling and playing around on Thursday night when a push from big brother caused a rotational fracture on his front-right shinbone - the tibia. Oy. It was terrible.

I could tell right away that it wasn't a "normal" injury. He wasn't recovering well and couldn't stop crying and holding his little leg or get comfortable. I wrapped him in a blanket, put ice on it, and consulted my copy of Naturally Healthy Babies and Children. It didn't take long to make the decision to bring him in - and for that, I am very thankful.

The doctor put a splint on in the ER that first night, which was extremely painful for Truen as you can well imagine. It was hard to see him in that much pain. We then reported to the Orthopedic Surgeon, for more x-rays and the cast, at 8:30 AM the next morning after approximately two hours of sleep. More pain, lots of hollering.

ER: After the splint

Sweet comfort

It felt so good to see his beautiful smile today --
It had been mostly grimaces, pensive staring, and/or
whimpering and crying since Thursday night,
the poor baby.

He is doing much better today, thankfully; which leaves me feeling optimistic for tomorrow. His pain has lessened and he is acting more like himself. (I've missed him!) The Orthopedic Surgeon we saw expected he would be scooting around within the week. "They heal so fast at this age," he said.

He will be in the cast for about a month. It is purple, his favorite color, though you can't see it in the picture. The doc cut the sides to leave room for swelling and wrapped it up with an ace bandage. We go back next Thursday for a check-up and the re-finishing of the cast.

This is definitely one thing I thought I'd never deal with. Or, at least, not this early in the game.

Un-un-un-un

Dreamt For Light Years In the Belly of a Mountain

My brother and SIL introduced this song to me just this week...and I think I might be obsessed. I have had it on repeat all morning; I am lulled, soothed, contemplative, and mournful all at the same time.

If you have 10 minutes to sit and stare, by all means...please do.

A remedy for pink eye

We just finished with a stint of conjunctivitis. I am so pleased to report that we eradicated it on our own! Home remedy. We blotted out sinus infections, ear infections, and now, eye infections - all without a visit to the doctor or the dreaded round of antibiotics.

Yessss. I am so proud.

Here's how we did it:

• Regular intervals of hot compresses to the eye(s)
• Eye wash of chamomile tea w/ goldenseal tincture
• Lots of warm baths to promote drainage

The bacteria that causes pink eye cannot live in heat, thus the hot compress. Because we do not have a microwave or a hot water bottle, I heated dried beans in a pot until they were hot and put them in an old sock. Be careful - it can get very hot, to the point of needing extra layers to protect your skin.

For the eye wash, I resorted wiping out Truen's eye with a cotton ball dipped in chamomile tea with 2-3 drops goldenseal tincture. (He couldn't handle anything else.) Squeeze used a glass eye-washing cup: it makes a seal and allows you to open and flush out your eye with the liquid (also great for irritated eyes).

Chamomile tea:

• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 TBSP chamomile blossoms
• Let steep until cool
• Strain twice before using

I repeated the eye wash/wipe and hot compress several times throughout the day, once or twice in conjunction with each other (which is a very good idea, if only my two year old could have handled it better). After the 3rd day following this routine, little Truen's eyes were tamed. Squeeze's eyes, which were never oozy like Truen's, cleared up after two days.

I referenced Prescription for Nutritional Healing by Phyllis Balch and Naturally Healthly Babies and Children by Aviva-Jill Romm - books that are invaluable components of both my home library and natural health philosophy.

Fighting for real milk - fighting for personal liberties and freedom

Hundreds pack raw milk hearing in Eau Claire

Hours of testimony
Wednesday's hearing at Chippewa Valley Technical College attracted about 450 people - most of them raw milk supporters who arrived by the busload. Testimony began about 10 a.m. and continued for more than 10 hours. Speakers included farmers, consumers, scientists and state and federal officials.

What happens here will send a message to the rest of the nation, said Kimberly Hartke, spokeswoman for the Weston A. Price Foundation, which touts the benefits of raw milk and says the risk of illness from it is minimal.

Currently, about 25 states allow some form of raw milk sales."Wisconsin is a bellwether state for us," Hartke said.

Ted Beals, a retired pathologist from the University of Michigan, said raw milk sales should be allowed."There is a very large and expanding group of well-informed families that very much want to have their milk fresh, unprocessed and whole, and they prefer to get it from a farmer they know," Beals said in an interview. "It's very personal," he said. "I can't think of another reason to get people more upset than to tell them that the food they believe is very nutritious and essential to their health is going to be denied them."

Advocates say raw milk contains nutrients, enzymes and bacteria that boost the immune system and can prevent allergies. Some even say it helps control asthma or autism.

"I am not making claims that our milk is going to cure cancer or anything else. You only know what it's going to do for you when you try it yourself," said Janet Brunner, whose dairy farm in Pepin County sold raw milk for nearly 10 years until running into opposition from state regulators.

For dozens of small farms in the state, raw milk sales have been an economic elixir, and they have built a loyal customer base while avoiding prosecution. The Brunners had more than 600 customers who paid about $5 a gallon for unpasteurized milk from their farm.

When they stopped selling it, Janet Brunner said, the farm store's income plummeted by 90%. "Now we are not earning enough to pay our bills, let alone support our farm," she said.

Independent lens

Diego has been taking a lot of pictures recently and I have really enjoyed seeing our home through his eyes. It's nice to have some fresh perspective from 42 inches off the floor.

Here are some of my favorites...

Little tootsies

A wasp's nest from the WI woods;
a mirror ball and color-strip lighting,
used for borealis family dance parties.
(Squeeze has black-lights up too,
but you can't see them in this picture.)

An extended window sill,

a little bit of green barracading us from the

sparkling outdoor winter whiteness.

One of my favorite bookshelves

Skyping with my dad.

I had the camera off the monitor

and was showing him something up close,

though I can't remember what.

Maybe the boys?

Skiing

I'm very good at skiing.
I have a kind of knack
For I can do it frontways
And also on my back.
And when I reach the bottom
I give a sudden flop
And dig myself in sideways,
And that's the way I stop.

Marchette Chute

***
Piper, Pipe that Song Again: Poems for Boys and Girls
Selected by Nancy Larrick
Published 1965
Thrifted ♥

Food, Inc.

You've seen it, right??? If you haven't, use whatever means you have available to you to see it - library, retail, rent, borrow, Netflix, etc.

Watching this film is a most revealing experience. It got me fired up all over again. It was a concise summery of all the research I've been doing the past 4-5 years, encompassing a good number of books. I highly, highly recommend it.

Books: My Journey to Real Food

These books have changed my life. They've given force and direction to my then-vague, now robust whole foods gut-instinct.

• Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World - Greg Critser
• Fast Food Nation - Eric Schlosser
• Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life - Barbara Kingsolver
• The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals - Michael Pollan
• Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats - Sally Fallon
• Real Food: What to Eat and Why - Nina Planck
• Garden of Eating: A Produce-dominated Diet & Cookbook - Rachel Albert-Matesz
• Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods - Sandor Ellix Katz
• Kitchen Literacy: How We Lost Knowledge of Where Food Comes from and Why We Need to Get It Back - Ann Vileisis
• The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved: Inside America's Underground Food Movements - Sandor Ellix Katz

The foresight! The vocabulary! The synapses!

Truen is two. Yesterday afternoon we were outside, stomping on the ice in the driveway, as Squeeze drove in. Truen saw him and announced, "We gonna get crushed!"

It made my mind spin. Amazing.

Coconutty-Almondy-Chocolatey-JOY

A lot of people have asked me for the recipe for the Coconutty-Almondy-Chocolatey-JOY in my last post about my battle against the void of refined sugar and flour, so I decided to take care of business with one post vs. numerous emails.

It is so good.

Coconutty-Almondy-Chocolatey-JOY

• 6 TBSP coconut oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 TBSP unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 TBSP maple syrup
• 2 TBSP unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1/4 cup chopped almonds

Melt (not cook, just melt) coconut oil in a small saucepan.

Whisk in vanilla, cocoa, and maple syrup until completely dissolved. Failure to do this will result in separation and an oily top.

Whisk in remaining ingredients, making sure they are completely incorporated.

Pour mixture into pan and tip to evenly spread. Use an 8X8 pan (or 9X13 for a double batch) - lined with parchment paper.

Place pan in freezer for 10 minutes to harden. ENJOY!

For those with little ones - this treat melts quickly when handled by warm little hands, so have them sit at the table while eating it.

In the fact that it is mostly coconut oil, Coconutty-Almondy-Chocolatey-JOY makes for a terrific dessert. That deliciously wonderful fat will help you feel satiated in addition to making the most of the digestion of the good meal you just ate.

Disclosure: I found this recipe online last fall, but could not locate the original site when composing this post. If anyone runs into it, please post the link in the comments so I can give credit where credit is due.

Yesssssssssss

Representing the Friends of the Library, I presented our proposal to the City Council last night. I am happy to announce that they were extremely receptive - and impressed with the level of our preparedness and how thorough we were. We had spreadsheets, folks. Spreadsheets!

We had all the bases covered: evidence supporting our argument [that the library is too small], quotes, funding, the options, handicap-accessible requirements, and the quantified effects of our current situations. It was totally awesome, yo.

I am endlessly pleased, because...

• They voted to move forward with the initial application!
• They're calling an architect to come and look at the two options we presented!

Our current library is unbearably small; so much so, that there has been a decline in both circulation and patron visits since they moved to the "new building" in 2007 (formerly the City Office). These trends were magnificently illustrated in our illustrious presentation of The Spreadsheet. Quantified data: who can argue with that?!

[btw, before 2007, the library was in a slightly larger building with extremely poor air quality. People were getting sick and it was yellowing/putrefying the books. But circulation was higher, as were physical visits to the library.]

Here are the points that we honed in on:

• We need a larger building for comfortable browsing and expanded programming.
• It is not a matter of if, but when and how.
• The time is now: we have funding available specifically for rural libraries.
• We want to keep people in our town, patronizing our library and our businesses.

It was fist-pumps and happy-dances galore after the meeting.

We nailed it!

Poetry for kids

I love, love, love this book of poetry for little ones. The poems are so fun to read aloud; they have a swing that is almost like dancing.

Yolen's compilation is wide and varied, which makes it all the more pleasurable. My boys enjoy the text and are intrigued by the rich and colorful illustrations. The poems vary in length as well, which keeps it exciting.

Go out and buy it, I say. It would be a lovely addition to a personal library or a great gift for anyone with little ones. Or at the very least, get it from the library.

It is delightfully charming.

Borealis: SIX - Competition: ZERO

One of my goals is to provide my little (and big) guys with wholesome, luscious desserts that blow the competition out of the water.

The competition being, of course, being the bank and post office, where they hand out endless quantities of candy, the allure of anti-nutrient laden pre-processed desserts and candies we, as a society, are surrounded with, and the void of desserts and treats made with refined sugars and flours.

I want them to taste the junk and recognize it for what it really is. Junk. A blackhole of cumulative ill health. And because my own palate is set for more savory than sweet, my previous tactics have involved avoidance and a lot of complaining. BUT. Since I am feeding three other people in addition to myself, I have decided instead to beat the competition silly with my mouth-watering sweet treats.

My arsenal thus far:

• Baked apples, stuffed with cinnamon-spiced walnuts and raisins, sweetened with maple syrup, and drizzled plentifully with fresh cream
• Chocolatey-Coconutty-Almondy-JOY - an amazing chocolately treat made with coconut oil, unsweetened cocoa powder, chopped almonds, and shredded unsweetened coconut. Sweetened with 1 TBSP maple syrup.
• Baked Custard - sweetened with honey, luscious
• Tapioca Pudding - honey again, and the boys love the "balls" a.k.a. tapioca pearls
• Homemade Jello - made from fruit juice and unflavored gelatin
• Chocolate Covered Coconut Macaroons - pure bliss

We made the macaroons this weekend, thanks to inspiration from my friend's post over at Night Swimming. Yowzas!!! They were so amazingly delicious. And really simple to make. She, in turn, got the recipe from Cookus Interuptus. (Which looks like an amazing site in itself.)

A few years ago, my goal was to avoid refined sugar and flours completely - but I just wasn't sure how to do that and still satisfy the all-too-human sweet tooth. Now I am learning that it is entirely possible. Not only possible, but wonderfully delicious and knocking-our-socks-off.

I'm going to lay the competition out flat.

They're so funny

"Did you know that Bob Sponge-ish is really made of cheese...?"
--Diego, while looking at the SpongeBob SquarePants soap dispenser at the library

"Dada, look! I'm a men!"
--Diego, holding his new printing calculator from the thrift store

"Hi Bunny Mama! Hehehe...I called you Bunny Mama."
--Truen, at breakfast

"I yike your neck-yis, Mama. Pwetty."
--Truen, sitting in my lap and facing me

Dada: "Why aren't you guys in the tub?"
Truen: "Because I'm too yittle."
(They're always escaping and running around nakey.)

The ENFP in me

I have a lot going on right now, which is some ways is very fun. In other ways, not so much -- like feeling like I am ignoring my children, or scrambling to get food ready hours later than I should.

So here's what I'm up to:

1) Working on a proposal for our small town's City Council meeting next Tuesday.

For what? A USDA Rural Development program that provides funding specifically for rural libraries through low-interest loans and grants! Yesssss.

There is even an empty storefront in town that is move-in ready and more than four times the size of our current library with room to grow (the entire upstairs could be remodeled). If one can even wrap their mind around it, the size of our current library is probably . . . 1000 square feet? Maybe less? And one-third is taken up by the bathroom and storage rooms. I know. Insane. It used to be the City Office.

All we need to do is convince our City Council that this is a good move for the entire town. Obvious, duh - but we are expecting the worst.

2) Following South Dakota's legislative season, specifically the Midwife and Birth Center bills.

The GREAT news is that two of the three bills have been "passed to the floor", meaning that the entire senate will have the chance to debate and vote on the bills. In years previous (since 1994, actually), the bills have never even made it out of committee in either the house or senate.

The third bill, SB107, presented this morning "as amended", is proposing a state-sponsored task force to get everyone at a round-table discussion about Certified Professional Midwives (CPM) in South Dakota and then draft legislation that works for everyone. Bills for CPMs licensure have been unremittingly batted down for over a decade now, so CPM advocates are changing their tactics, hoping they can finally work something out.

Predictably, all the medical lobby and Secretary of the Dept of Health were adamantly opposed to the bill "as amended", saying, literally, that there is no common ground [between the Dept. of Health and CPM advocates], the small number of homebirths in SD "aren't worth the cost" [of the task force], and that "There is no place for the CPM in the care of women and children in South Dakota".

The entire testimony can be heard at SDPB's STATEHOUSE. Scroll down and find "18th Legislative Day" and click on "02/10/2010 Complete Meeting" - the midwife bills start at 35 minutes and goes until the end.

EDIT: If you have trouble getting it to play on Realplayer, like I did, go with Option 2 on the SDPB's Help Site. It worked for me.

If you have any interest, it would be worth listening to. Especially the wicked opposition to the legal right of 26 other states (and counting): access to a Certified Professional Midwife. On a broader spectrum, I have learned a lot about how government works through listening to the committee meetings and the House in session.

3) Helping a friend start a thrift store in our small town.

She had the building anyway, so, logistically, it has simply been a matter of re-organizing and gathering stuff to sell. She is also aligning herself in a rotational basis with all area non-profits, giving them a percentage of her profits every quarter.

It has been interesting. She didn't know much about thrift stores, so we scoped the thrift shop my MIL volunteers at - then brainstormed prices, lay-out, and general rules. Since then, I've served as cheerleader, supplier (raiding our house for stuff to thrift), and zealous dumpster diver.

Love it. Dumpster diving comes natural to me! I've been finding treasures in other peoples garbage since I was little. And will tell you: I've been absolutely appalled at what is in our town's dumpster for rural residents. The dumpster is free, I might add, in a campaign to prevent garbage burning, a dirty habit of rural residents passed down through the generations.

Here has what I have found - in PERFECT condition, mind you.

1. Dollhouse, complete with all dolls
2. Barbie backpack with rollers and pull-handle
3. Dora floaty-suit for a little one at the beach
4. Graco toy stroller
5. Child's sleeping bag
6. A bag of clean socks and bras
7. Stuffed pig
8. Barbie horse trailer
9. Several bric-a-brac figurines and candles
10. Wall mirror

South Dakota's midwife-related bills

For those with the interest and time, you can listen to the Midwife and Birth Center bills for the state of South Dakota being discussed in the Health and Human Services committees, for both the House and Senate. It will be fascinating (seriously).

South Dakota Legislature - 2010 Session Committees

Schedule:

• HB1123 - Birth Center Bill - Rm 412 - Tuesday, February 9, 2010 - 7:45am - House Health and Human Services Committee
• SB96 & SB107 - Registration & Licensure Bill - Rm 412 - Wednesday, February 10, 2010 - 7:45am - Senate Health and Human Services Committee
• HB1230 - Decriminalization Bill (Tentative) - Rm 412 - Tuesday, February 16, 2010 - 7:45am - House Health and Human Services Committee

Punctuated with, "Really?" and "Yeah, that's a good one!"

Mama: "What would you want to name our new baby when we have one?"
Truen: "Mmmmm...Joey!"
Diego: "Colorado!"
Truen: "Puppy Dog!"
Diego: "No, I know what we can name her - Pretty Piggy."
Truen: "Baby Teebo!"
Diego: "No wait, you haven't heard this one before - Pretty Penny!"

p.s. NOT PREGNANT

For the record

I quit reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.
I just couldn't hack it anymore.

One of my letters to the editor

I will be very curious to hear the medical lobbyist’s arguments against the Midwife and Birth Center bills in the Health and Human Services committee hearing this year – SB107 and HB1183.

Last year, a medical lobbyist used a hospital-based statistic to “prove” why babies should be born in the hospital, not at home. His misuse of statistical data was downright deceptive, saying that over 25% of all babies born have “serious birthing complications”.

I beg to differ. If he were shedding light on hospital-based statistics in the US, and thus, why many women are choosing homebirths, he would have been more on target.

The truth of the matter is that the national c-section rate is over 30% and climbing; but Certified Professional Midwives, the midwives who specialize in homebirth, have a c-section rate of 3.7%. To help put these numbers in perspective, the optimal c-section rate recommended by the World Health Organization is 5-10%.

It is a moot point to apply the 25% “serious birthing complications”, a.k.a. - the 30% national c-section rate - to Certified Professional Midwives. Any individual can do the math and see that for a normal, low-risk pregnancy, a midwife-attended homebirth is actually the safer choice under current conditions.

My hope is that the legislators on the HHS committee will have done their homework and worked hard to see the truth vs. shady half-truths and slanderous misconceptions that the medical lobby would like them to believe.

Not everyone wants to have a homebirth, and that is okay; but South Dakota deserves access to Certified Professional Midwives.

Can't. stop. dancing.

World Invaders by Pluton and the Humanoids

This song is at the tippity-top of the charts of what makes me want to get down and boogie. Seriously. I cannot stop.

I love two year olds

Seriously, I think I might be crazy about them. They're so funny, adorable, loving, and hardly have any morning breath at all.

Especially my little Pumpkin . . . how can he be so cute?!

As he we snuggled down into sleep last night, I heard him whisper-singing, "No more monkeys jumping in the bed!" and "Twinkle-twinkle yittle starw". He has also been singing, "And one for the yittle boy who yives dow-n the yane" and, my favorite, "Pop! goes the wea-soh".

I could just eat him up. And I do -- then he yells, "Kisses are yucky!" and tries to wipe them off his face, smiling and giggling all the while. Then I have to smooch him more. ♥

Certified Professional Midwives

It's that time of year again . . . South Dakota's legislative season. This little beauty was created by for Massachusetts folk by two Massachusetts groups advocating midwifery. (They have legislation going forward this year as well.)

The twelve minutes are well worth your time. This video is extremely well-done; it provides an astute and concise synopsis of the medical model of birth in the US today and why we need midwives.

EDITED to say: Unfortunately, this vid was pulled off YouTube the very next day. Saaaaaad. It was so good.

As far as access to Certified Professional Midwives across the nation goes, here is the state-by-state break-down, with thanks to the national organizing force, The Big Push for Midwives.

In South Dakota this year, instead of a CPM licensure bill, midwifery advocates will be introducing a decriminalization bill. The idea is that in these tough economic times, a licensure bill wouldn't have a chance - but that a bill allowing Certified Professional Midwives to practice without fear of prosecution and jail-time* is better suited.

*Think that's nuts? Me too. And it's true... My midwife is a South Dakotan and has served jail time. That was before she moved her practice across the state border to MN; now she serves her SD clients across the border at Safe Houses.

Like a little chipmunk

An increasing trend from the last few weeks --

***

Truen: "Mama . . . Mama . . . Mama . . ."
Mama: "Yes?"
Truen (grinning): "Gumbawlths!"

***

Truen: "Mama . . . Mama . . ! "
Mama: "Yeah...?"
Truen (eyes shining): "Gumbawlths!"

***

Truen: "Mama . . . Mama . . . Mama . . ."
Mama: "Yeahhhhh?"
Truen (happily): "Gumbawlths!"
Mama: "Ohhhhhh, are you thinking about gumballs?"
Truen: "Yeah! They'rrrrrew taaaaaathsty!"

***

This little guy is obsessed.