Happy Equinox!

heeeeeeeeeere chicky chicky x 32

You heard it right. 32 chickens.

Excuse me while I digress...

When I was typing up a new little profile for myself recently I was having a lot of difficulty describing what we are doing with our lives. Most of the time I don't feel all that different from the average joe, but then it hits me every once in awhile that no, we are living really differently than a LOT of people. This realization can be hard on me, because I am someone who would rather not stick out. I don't want to be the spokesperson for composting your poop, or drinking raw milk, or living in a small house, ect. I wholeheartedly believe in what we are doing, but I honestly don't think is for most people, and I don't think it is the one and only way to live.

I don't even know how I ended up here. I didn't have any particular dream to build my own house and have dairy goats, and chickens, and be a stay-at-home mom who lives so far from the city... I guess one thing leads to another, and then one day you just are.

( If I had to guess, 10 years ago I would have said I would be owning a little bookstore/gallery on the coast of Maine. And I would live upstairs and have a cute little walled garden in the back where I would have a little studio, grow tomatoes, and lanterns would glow at night. ..)

Anyways... All this to say that I feel like we are completely flying by the seat of our pants most days. So, despite not having anywhere to house them, we decided, went and bought, and brought home a lot of chickens. Last night the brothers (Alex and David) had the extension cords and flood lights out as they finished up the temporary chicken housing. David drove 35 minutes one direction to pick up 1/2 the birds, and Ema, Gita, Lili, and I drove the 35 minutes other direction to pick up the rest. We got two different ages~ 2 1/2 month and 5 1/2 months. The older ones have just started laying. Here's what 10 chickens in a minivan looks like:

and the sun was setting as we drove away from these brown-leghorn's former home...
This weekend we will be building them a proper home in our backyard.
Cluck Cluck :)

pitter patter

Just look at this beautiful printing press I found on ebay. If I had 55,000 dollars I probably would spend it other ways (maybe a bathroom?) but, I have to say my heart would lean toward this just a little bit:
p.s.~ something exciting and animal-ly is happening tonight. stay tuned!

felty mail!

When we were up north we left Lili's special sippy cup at our friend's house, and so we kindly got a package in the mail the other day returning it. Tucked in the package was this amazing little hand felted wall hanging for Lili. Isn't it the best??? When I first saw it I thought the girl was carrying a plate of cookies (see where my mind is...), but it has been pointed out to me that clearly they are flowers. And probably black-eyed-susans. Duh.

Although wouldn't it be nice to be carrying a plate of cookies to eat under a big leafy tree? And all to yourself I might add. (Unless sheep like cookies...)I have never felted, but it looks so fun. I love all the colors and softness of it. Thank you Elizabeth!!!

new work

each 6.5" x 6.5" x .5"

the good guide

I want to share this awesome link that Ema led me too recently.
It is called THE GOOD GUIDE,
and it rates all sorts of products and toys for health, environmental impact, and how the company treats it's workers. I can't believe I didn't know about this before. Stuff like shampoo (even the stuff I buy at the health food store) has so many unidentifiable ingredients. It feels impossible to tell what the health risks are etc. But this website makes it very clear. Also noteworthy: "Suave shampoo, balsam & protein", $4.27, got a way higher score than my fancy $9.00 per bottle shampoo.
I ♥ to finally understand what I am using.

space

Sorry I have been a bad blogger this week~ I have two excuses.
#1: I had/have a sinus infection that gave me a constant headache and felt like I had cinder blocks in my cheekbones. I even went to bed before Alex two nights in a row. I am feeling much better now (I took the medicinal herb poke root for the first time and it seems to have done the job~ it is nice to have an alternative to antibiotics).
#2: Is waaaaay better than #1....It that I got the gift of a studio space for two months!!! For a small barter my friends are letting me take up a 16'x20' cabin right that is very close to our house. It feels like my heart has exploded with happiness. I love ADORE my new space.
See how lived-in it looked after only 10 hours of me and my supplies?and here is the painting I made today. I forgot how emotional I get when I paint alone and without a plan. It is like the paint and patterns speak to me~ and reach out and touch places of my soul that never get noticed. sounds crazy, but at least I know it is a truthful painting when this happens. Does that make any sense?

milkweeds 8"x8"x1.5"
fabric, glue, acrylic paint, papers, ink

Woof Woof

{Alex raking the new kids area we just had leveled out by the trampoline while Lili walks around in her fabulous boots calling to the dog. As you can see from Lil's tumble, we don't have much flat area for her to walk on, so once the grass grows in down there it will be sweet for the kids! Picture a little pool, sandbox, and trimmed luscious green grass for dancing in...}

transplant

Alex, transplanting some mountainberries along our fence.
Mountainberries are similar to a raspberry~ only they are more juicy and they pop off the bush and almost stick to your fingers. We keep getting more new shoots every year and so our berry "patch" keeps growing. I say patch in quotations because we don't have a unified patch~ just berries planted wherever we think they won't get trampled. Using the fence is nice because it protects the plants and provides support. and #2, the fence becomes hidden in the summer months. Aren't the mountainberry branches pretty all red and spiky???

Lili's Saturday...

Saying "EMA!" for the first time...
Pretending to push our fancy new wheelbarrow...

In and out of the gate. Up and down the little hill. Up and down the stairs. In and out of our arms. Always on the go nowadays...

Wearing sunblock for the first time this year...

Trampolining with cousins, friends, and Daddy-O...

doodling a schedule for art time...

propane run

Our long term vision for our home is to have a woodstove and a solar hot water heater. But, right now we use propane for our hot water (sink and shower), our heater, and our stove.Every few weeks we have to load our big propane tanks onto the truck to get them filled in town. Yesterday was a beautiful day for a drive, and our little threesome decided to drive into town for a fill-up. (Okay, maybe it wasn't quite so on a whim, as we had also run out of propane... So, no heat = brrrr... that was a tiny motivation too.) Regardless, it was beautiful out, and you know what else was beautiful? The three donuts we ate on the way home.

new

We all start out this way.
We all have had a first time dancing with our own shadow.
Small things are funny. Until they become mundane and normal.
Until someone small lets you in on how funny they truly are.
well, now I know again.
Shadows are funny moving things.


p.s.~ SouleMama has such a wonderful post today ( if you haven't already seen it go HERE)...
If only I could wake up like that some days.
To a tablecloth and paper as quiet as the snow, waiting for you to show up and see.

and then one day there were 3 toothbrushes, and life was back to normal.

Lili woke from her nap today to a wintry-wonderland-mix outside the window. She stared with her nap face out the window as the other kids sledded down the driveway. She would turn to me after they flew by with her hands up in the air... What was THAT?

Alex and I have used the day to be a touch lazy mixed in with some good "bad" weather activities such as making muffins, drinking coffee, reading during Lili's nap, and unpacking all those tubs from NH...

Looks like we will be up on the mountain for a couple days as a wintry mix and low temps make for dangerous roads here. Jason was just down at the grocery store, and even though we only have 3" tops of snow, he had to wait 45 minutes in line! Crazy South. ;)Miss Nap Face and her new tutu...
The books on our side tabe are:
"The Key to Rebecca" by Ken Follett
"Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
"Naturally Healthy Babies and Children" by Aviva Jill Romm
and "500 Handmade Books" by Lark Books

starts.

I started some seeds this year before March~ A personal victory!

Tomatoes of all sorts

Peppers

Luffa (did you know luffas -yes, the kind you use in the bath- are just squash?)

hot peppers

watermelon

hmmm, I can't remember what else off the top of my head...

The six packs/flats are looking a little weary from use, but they hopefully should do the job. The dirt is half worm castings/ half peat moss. They are upstairs now soaking in our southern exposure. Ema and I also placed an order for more seeds with Fedco this weekend as well. Yay!
Also, I would like to point out the little bit of curtain peeking in the photo- ah yes, next to our untrimmed window- they are a glorious/hideous 60's forest print that I found in the thrift store when I was desperate for curtains. Someday (hopefully soon) they will be replaced by something unquestionably cute, but in the meantime I thought I would get it out of the way and acknowledge them.