Orchard Beginnings

Last night at about 9:00 or 9:30 we got an unexpected knock at the door. It was Nathan's sister and husband bringing us 6 cherry tree starts from a relative. I had expressed interest in getting some of these starts and they showed up last night! Right now they are planted in buckets full of dirt until we can get them planted when we move. I think we are going to give a couple to my dad who is starting his orchard this year as well. Nathan can't wait for cherry preserves like his Nanny used to make. This fall or next spring we should be getting some peach tree starts as well. This means that in just a couple of years these trees should start producing fruit. They don't take too long to get started and I am so excited!! It was so kind of those guys to share with us and they even provided the buckets filled with dirt so we would have somewhere to keep the plants until we move! How thoughtful!!

To Do

While waiting for our money from the state we have been trying very hard to find an inexpensive structure that we can live in until our house is built on the new land. Today we are leaning toward one of these (the lofted cabin style). We went to see them this past weekend and they seem to be very sturdy and at least a little better option than a tent. Especially if we tie it down with mobile home straps. We also looked at a different brand at Lowe's which had one with an upstairs, but it didn't seem nearly as sturdy because (we just found out) that the dura-built ones are Mennonite built. They really were a much better product and not at all more expensive.



To do:

pack up all fall and winter clothes

purchase something to pack clothes in

narrow all 3 children's clothing (plus new baby's) into 1 (count 'em 1) dresser

narrow all Nathan's and my clothes into 1 wardrobe/dresser

continue to go through and pull things out for MASSIVE yard sale

get delicious cinnamon crunch bagel from Panera and DON'T SHARE IT

Tell my midwife to take a hike if she mentions my 4 pound in 2 week weight gain again

find inexpensive night stand (maybe go back to Peddler's Mall)

do something fun with kids

go grocery shopping

disappear with my husband for a couple of days

discover an effective way to get my daughter to stop screaming

discover an effective way to get my eldest son to stop whining (all the kids for that matter)

Enjoy this time in my children's lives. They are all at ages that are so special and brief and magical. Toby is blowing kisses all the time now, and his vocabulary is growing day by day. Yesterday he started saying ball in addition to all his other words: mama, dada, saiah, up, bye-bye, night-night, milk (sometimes), more (sign language) and I'm sure much more than I am remembering right now. He is also repeating sounds that he hears other things make such as toys and songs. He seems to be learning to speak in terms of pitch rather than learning how to form the words by watching us speak them. It's very interesting to watch him learn. Also, when I lay him down for his nap, he must turn out the light switch first and then I lay his sweet self down and he just snuggles down and then pulls the covers up around himself. These are all things I want to write down for myself just so I will remember them.

Isaiah just came in and said, "I have a very funny knock knock joke for you. Knock knock"

"who's there?"

"Cuckoo"

"Cuckoo who?"

"Cuckoo you!!!"

csa

We joined a CSA yesterday and picked up our first box of vegetables! It included a big bag of mixed salad, a bag of spinach, a small bunch of the cutest carrots I have ever seen, some beets, some radishes, and some oregano. I just love that even though we aren't going to get to plant our big garden this year that we will get some fresh vegetables every week. We went out to Terrapin Hill Farm for our pick up and to meet the owners of the farm and to see how the farm looks. Everything looked sustainable and well taken care of and the kids had a great time checking out the chicks in the brooder and running in the mud. (We took our three plus my niece and nephew that I watch 3 days a week. The van was packed. :) So, we got our veggies and now I am trying to figure out what to do with beets. I used to eat them as a child but I have no recollection as to how they were prepared. Anyone have a good beet recipe? This farm is actually just up the road from where we are moving to in Harrodsburg, which means that it will be nice to get to know some folks in the Burg of Harrod before we even get there. And hopefully even though they are a farm that we'll essentially be "competing" with in the coming years, their focus is not at all the same as ours with the exception of pastured poultry, and there is no way there are too many people raising pastured poultry. I feel good about supporting another local farm until our own local farm is up and running.

By the way, last Saturday we played Settlers with some friends and it was so much fun! We are going to have to make it a regular occurrence. They even brought us a gallon of raw milk to go with our brownies, which was gone the next day. Only a little longer until we get a cow. Then we'll have to learn to milk it. But, oh, the awesomeness of milk straight from our own cow... Seriously, buying milk is just the pits. We go through something like 5 gallons a week (sometimes more) but if we have our own cow and we get something like 4 gallons a day (being hopeful here) then we can just drink milk until the cow runs dry. And make butter, and then we'll have buttermilk, and make all kinds of cheeses, and yogurts, and whatever else strikes our dairy fancy. I hope we have enough to at least share with my dad who would absolutely love the fresh milk. We went over to my parent's house last night for supper and had a good time. I got to see Dad's vegetable garden which is looking good, and all his flowers too. He just got 4 new dwarf apple trees and a pear tree which has gotten me thinking about my own orchard. SOON we have to plant an orchard. A HUGE orchard with all kinds of apples and pears and cherries and peaches... and we have to do berries! of all kinds! I could go on and on and on...

There is much more to say about the farm, my kids, the camper situation, the new house design but for now 2 posts in one day is enough.

Lydia Speak

fairy tale = pony tail

bunny ears = two pony tails

choking = joking

pianyos = piano

bandaddy = band-aid

Although Lydia is having a hard time with her attitude these past few weeks, I have never enjoyed her (in the non-screaming at the top of her lungs kicking on the floor moments) any more than I do right now. She pretends all the time, and puts on "shows" where she dances across the room ballerina style with a few other styles thrown in. She has entire conversations between two imaginary people without even playing with a doll. I just love listening to the songs and conversations she makes up and I really want to enjoy this time where she will just openly pretend in front of me.

I feel like I am having a hard time getting to enjoy everything about each of my children! I love having many children close together, I just feel like I can't know as much about each of them as I would like to. Every time they do something hilarious, or new or exciting I feel like I should just wrap up in the moment because they are already growing up--sometimes I can't just enjoy the moment though, and that's where I feel like I'm missing out. I think when I actually took Mother's Day to put aside other things and just enjoy my babies I realized that even though things are very hectic and busy and changing right now that it's so important to just sit and play and paint and pretend with them.

Settlers!

I love Whole Foods. I don't think we had been there for 4 months or so as we have been shopping at kroger a lot more because it is much closer and less expensive. Yesterday we went to Whole Foods, though, and spent more than I anticipated, but for supper I had the yummiest berries and cheese and I thought it might be the best meal I have had this pregnancy. Blackberries and strawberries (with cool whip!) and cabot extra sharp white cheddar.

We are trying meal planning this week, hoping it will cut out some stress and make meal times easier since I will know exactly what's coming. Today it's leftover spaghetti for lunch and chicken fettucini alfredo for supper. Lots of pasta today, but that's the plan. I may try to throw in some broccoli for something green.

We ordered a earth bag building book last night, but the best thing we ordered is Settlers! and the extension pack! I am so excited that we can start playing this game!

Baked Goodies

Yesterday I went on a baking spree. The kitchen was all clean and the clear counters beckoned me to cover them in flour. I started off with a breakfast of sausage, biscuits, eggs, and gravy. After that mess was cleaned up and we had all eaten, I made a double batch of banana nut raisin muffins (because I have no loaf pans. The ones from the dollar tree turned my bread green last time, so they are being re-purposed into something outside). I froze 8, gave 4 away, 4 got eaten pretty quickly, and now we currently have 6 left outside the freezer. I also made pecan chocolate cherry bars again and I have an update. I used all whole wheat flour, only 1 cup of loosely packed brown sugar (instead of firmly packed 1 1/2c.), and made sure to chop my cherries up before adding them and they turned out pretty well! They are a little bit more crumbly than last time (only a little), but I only miss the white flour a little bit and I don't miss the sugar at all. I will probably keep the recipe this way so we can eat them mostly guilt free for breakfast. Let's see...next I made a couple loaves of bread out of some graham flour that I bought a couple months ago and had to use up. Eh, it's edible, but only with much butter, or other yummy topping. Lastly, I made pizza for supper using this dough recipe. That was the best thing I made all day. The baking madness has come to a halt and now I have the urge to organize. It's just the first inkling of an urge, so it will probably take a few days to get in full organizational swing, but I feel it coming. I need to entirely re-do the pantry, the spice cabinet, and the craft closet and craft fridge. I am not looking forward to the pantry, so it may never get done :)

Well, it's naptime, and I may take a nap today too.