Friday's Wedding Anniversary adventure began with a boat ride. Not just a boat ride, but a BOAT ride.
Facebook had reconnected us with a long ago friend and her new husband. Donnie had been friends with her since he was about 19 and in our early years of marriage I relied on her example as she was the only young mother that I knew. None of my friends were even married and here I was, 2 years into my marriage with an 11 month old and a newborn.
We shared the same pediatrician, lived 10 minutes from one another, and adored being home with our growing families. We often spoke daily on the phone and in the era before texting and facebooking our daily conversations were often only a few sentences long before we had to hang up and attend to a foster child, daycare kid, or birth baby.
Later in the day we would dial each other up and ask advice for a good recipe for chicken, how to calm a fussy baby, or what to do about a toddler who insisted on using the bookshelf as a climbing wall!
Our husbands were friends and our lives at least on the surface were so similar. But shortly before we moved to Carver the guys began to drift apart and after our Carver move the phone calls and visits became less frequent. I felt bad that the friendship was drifting away but simply thought it the inevitable consequence of growing families and ever increasingly complicated lives.
What I did not know however was that their marriage had become a very difficult one and that secrets and lies kept her from really being able to communicate with anyone. How sad and scary that is. How easy it could happen to any of us.
Zoom ahead all these years later and she pulled herself and her children out of what had become a dangerous situation and built a new life for all of them. Pretty heroic I think.
She has been with her second husband for a number of years and together they finished raising each others kids (huh as if you can ever really be finished. What I mean is they all finished college and are out in the world working, raising families, etc.)
We now communicate over the Internet and as couples went out to dinner one night. Busy lives and distance keep us from being involved deeply in one an others lives but there will always be a special place for those early joyful years of our marriage and familiy's start.
Anyway they live close to the Maine/NH border and offered to take us out on their boat. (Ok I think Donnie invited us lol but it did not take much convincing!) We had fun going down memory lane and listening to one an other's updated lives. We toasted old and new friends and long marriages. We drove CRAZY fast across the open water and let me tell you it was like flying!
I even swam at the mouth of the Essex river and the ocean while keeping a wary eye out for fresh water sharks...you know that sort of inlet is how the get a toe hold into the fresh water!
It was beautiful scenery, stunning views, great weather and perfect company.
We stayed out much longer than I expected, the time just getting away from us the way it can with good company.
Don and I then continued up north in the pick up, driving and holding hands, the song track of our lives playing on the radio. (Beatles and Elton John of course.)
Stayed in a lovely hotel with an awesome pool and jacuzzi. Thankfully they put out the complimentary breakfast good and early because we had a bunny show to get to.
The Fair itself was like a smaller version of our own Marshfield fair. We watched the horse pulls and marveled at the feed bills they must have. Prepping for a bunny show takes some time and effort can you imagine the work to prepare those massive draft horses and all their stuff?
It was fun meeting some new bunny folk and reaquainting ourselves with old. Don had, at my request, brought along a canopy as the show tent is too tiny and the sun quite bake-y out in the open field. He spent the day angling a tarp he had brought with the canopy, moving just ahead of the sun to keep the buns cool.
He was a man on a mission, determined to keep us all shaded and content. For his reward he had a ginormous fried dough with disgusting fixings on it, and other tasty fair treats.
We took best opposite sex of breed in show A and best of breed in show B and most importantly out little juniors showed very promising. It was a great fair day and
3B's Rabbitry is back in the Dwarf world!
The ride home included more great songs and a free dinner at Fridays. Such a great way to close out the summer and honor 27 years of Blaussy Bliss.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
27 years of Marriage
Today marks the 27th anniversary of our marriage. 27 years, 3 apartments, one house, 7 children, a brother, 40 something foster kids, countless dogs, cats, rabbits, chickens, birds, and fish. So far...
We have had job struggles, financial woes, health issues. We have had 2 miscarriages, we've lost our fathers, my mother, our Nanas. We have had many angry arguments, many hurt feelings and misunderstandings. We've worked too hard at it, or not hard enough.
But lists can only go so far. For instance almost every year on paper at least our budget looks solid and doable. Yet we still spend more than we planned for. The budget list only goes so far.
How can you list things like longwalks, back packing trips, the DC honeymoon, the 2 trips to St Lucia. There is no way to simply list the joys of a good campfire and some guitar music.
How do you word the feeling of lonelyness when one of us is not in bed. Even though when we do share a bed he always squishes me and steals all the blankets. (In fairness he admits to squashing on my side of the bed but he claims that I throw the covers off, not him.)
Yet when we have the rare opportunity to sleep alone neither one of us can settle in. Also on the off chance we can pick a king size bed, like on a vacation, neither one of us choose it. On those times we have slept in one it feels too far away from each other.
We are very different from one another although we have begun to look a like, me getting hairier, he putting on weight :>P
We have certainly matured from the 28 and 20 year old selves that we were when we walked down the aisle. Yet our authentic selves have stayed pretty much the same.
I have heard marriage is 50 50 but found out a GOOD marriage is 100 100. After all what happens if one of us can only give 50% that day, or 2%? The other had better be giving 100 or we are doomed.
I have also heard that we marry so that we can have a witness to our own lives. That holds some merit as I can remember my mom saying one of the things she missed the most after my father's death was having a person listen to her rattle off her day, her whole day, every day.
One of my most beloved literary characters Amelia Peabody claims marriage is a stalemate between two equal adversaries. I think Amelia is a wise woman.
When people hear how long we have been married they compliment us and I use to think that was odd because being married just seemed like what most adults are suppose to be. But as marriages crash all around us, that is evidently not the case.
Recently on a talk show I heard the panel talk about how with people living longer lives it is unnatural to expect someone to remain monogomus with someone else their whole lives. Maybe that is true. After all isnt the statistic something like 60% of married men have had at least one affair? The panel felt you would get bored with one another.
Bored? bored? I have not been bored since I was 17 years old. I have been mad, pissed off, furious, enraged, but not bored with him. I have been giddy, silly, goofy but not bored. I have been loving, passionate, in love. I have certainly had to work harder than I expected to in this Holy state of Marriage.
But in the middle of the night if I brush his hand accidently he reaches out, holds mine and squeezes it but does not wake up. If he sees something on tv or at the movies that strikes him as really and truly funny he starts to laugh but always, always, he turns to see if I find it funny too, because my enjoyment makes his complete.
Many an argument has ended because one of us is just plain funny. And no adventure is ever complete, even the most perfectly exciting exhiliarating of adventures until we can share it with one another.
So 27 years is an accomplishment I suppose. We will spend it by driving up to NH, stopping along the way to go out for a boat ride with a long ago friend and her husband. We will stay at a hotel up in NH for the night, one with a pool (for me) and free breakfast (for Don.) Then Saturday we will spend the day at a bunny show in Maine. Don will of course sneak off to get a fried dough. I will succomb to the temptation of something salty. We may fit a hike in or explore some new beach.
We are each lucky to have found someone willing to put up with ourselves. Here is to the next 27 years!
We have had job struggles, financial woes, health issues. We have had 2 miscarriages, we've lost our fathers, my mother, our Nanas. We have had many angry arguments, many hurt feelings and misunderstandings. We've worked too hard at it, or not hard enough.
But lists can only go so far. For instance almost every year on paper at least our budget looks solid and doable. Yet we still spend more than we planned for. The budget list only goes so far.
How can you list things like longwalks, back packing trips, the DC honeymoon, the 2 trips to St Lucia. There is no way to simply list the joys of a good campfire and some guitar music.
How do you word the feeling of lonelyness when one of us is not in bed. Even though when we do share a bed he always squishes me and steals all the blankets. (In fairness he admits to squashing on my side of the bed but he claims that I throw the covers off, not him.)
Yet when we have the rare opportunity to sleep alone neither one of us can settle in. Also on the off chance we can pick a king size bed, like on a vacation, neither one of us choose it. On those times we have slept in one it feels too far away from each other.
We are very different from one another although we have begun to look a like, me getting hairier, he putting on weight :>P
We have certainly matured from the 28 and 20 year old selves that we were when we walked down the aisle. Yet our authentic selves have stayed pretty much the same.
I have heard marriage is 50 50 but found out a GOOD marriage is 100 100. After all what happens if one of us can only give 50% that day, or 2%? The other had better be giving 100 or we are doomed.
I have also heard that we marry so that we can have a witness to our own lives. That holds some merit as I can remember my mom saying one of the things she missed the most after my father's death was having a person listen to her rattle off her day, her whole day, every day.
One of my most beloved literary characters Amelia Peabody claims marriage is a stalemate between two equal adversaries. I think Amelia is a wise woman.
When people hear how long we have been married they compliment us and I use to think that was odd because being married just seemed like what most adults are suppose to be. But as marriages crash all around us, that is evidently not the case.
Recently on a talk show I heard the panel talk about how with people living longer lives it is unnatural to expect someone to remain monogomus with someone else their whole lives. Maybe that is true. After all isnt the statistic something like 60% of married men have had at least one affair? The panel felt you would get bored with one another.
Bored? bored? I have not been bored since I was 17 years old. I have been mad, pissed off, furious, enraged, but not bored with him. I have been giddy, silly, goofy but not bored. I have been loving, passionate, in love. I have certainly had to work harder than I expected to in this Holy state of Marriage.
But in the middle of the night if I brush his hand accidently he reaches out, holds mine and squeezes it but does not wake up. If he sees something on tv or at the movies that strikes him as really and truly funny he starts to laugh but always, always, he turns to see if I find it funny too, because my enjoyment makes his complete.
Many an argument has ended because one of us is just plain funny. And no adventure is ever complete, even the most perfectly exciting exhiliarating of adventures until we can share it with one another.
So 27 years is an accomplishment I suppose. We will spend it by driving up to NH, stopping along the way to go out for a boat ride with a long ago friend and her husband. We will stay at a hotel up in NH for the night, one with a pool (for me) and free breakfast (for Don.) Then Saturday we will spend the day at a bunny show in Maine. Don will of course sneak off to get a fried dough. I will succomb to the temptation of something salty. We may fit a hike in or explore some new beach.
We are each lucky to have found someone willing to put up with ourselves. Here is to the next 27 years!
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
August and that anticipation
Interesting week. As often happens around here the closer we get to back to school, people need help and volunteers and who better to go to than people who always help and always volunteer.
My friend Judy once said that when people ask her for something, be it her teenagers or the PTO or any other group she always says, "If you need an immediate answer then it is no. If you can wait I will get back to you tomorrow."
This way she has a chance to see if she really wants to make the commitment, if she really can make the commitment, and if it really fits in with her busy family's schedule. It is always amazing how other people are certain they know the best way for you to spend your time!
Naturally the 'think it over rule' is almost impossible for us to keep because of course we never mind helping someone in need. Last night for instance we got a frantic phone call. The 4H tents were blowing down in the blustery storm and the only person up there was the kids' sixty something leader.
So Don grabbed a handful of our kids and went up.
But many many times the call comes in and we find ourselves saying yes before really thinking it through. We try every New Years and then again every August to go over the next months and see what we can fit in and what has to be a no.
I think we might make it if I never let Donnie near the phone. He has no trouble saying no to me, but is patently unable to say no to anyone outside the family!
It might be the one really good thing about my slow neck recovery (slow in my mind, the recovery itself has been quite standard for this sort of surgery.) I cannot say yes to anything and it limits Donnie from saying yes too. (Assuming of course I get to the phone before he does.)
There are lot of really important things that could use our attention. Our Youth Minister has been let go, the church needs Confirmation teachers, the 4H needs a couple of leaders, the girls town basketball could use a few more volunteers.... the list goes on
Right now however Don starts a certificate course 2 nights a week in Auto-CAD...first time he has been in school since 1973. He is still looking for work and hockey season gets underway. I am committed to the high school PTO and a committee that is preparing our middle/high school for accreditation. I will also be working part time, fighting the weight loss get in shape war, and of course the big deal that still consumes my waking and sleeping hours- fusing my cadaver bones to my regular bones.
Then of course their is my brother and his special needs. The support to Special Olympics and his shed building volunteer work. We have the 2 in college so support gets thrown their way. Then the 3 younger ones and their schooling, extra curricular activities, jobs, CCD, 4H etc....all the pets.... Oops and lets not forget supporting married daughter and son in law and their new home, new bunny and new dog! (Thankfully its all moral and occasionally physical support my darlings Mary and Matt never ask for money!)
Hmmm I am exhausted just looking and I did not even include our fun hobbies like Donnie's Civil War research, or my bunnies, or our garden and home.
Come to think of it I am going to print this out and leave a copy of it by the phone, after I take a nap. I am exhausted just looking at it all.
FALL is our favorite time of year. This year I vow not to need an Oprah-like intervention to slow down and breath.
My friend Judy once said that when people ask her for something, be it her teenagers or the PTO or any other group she always says, "If you need an immediate answer then it is no. If you can wait I will get back to you tomorrow."
This way she has a chance to see if she really wants to make the commitment, if she really can make the commitment, and if it really fits in with her busy family's schedule. It is always amazing how other people are certain they know the best way for you to spend your time!
Naturally the 'think it over rule' is almost impossible for us to keep because of course we never mind helping someone in need. Last night for instance we got a frantic phone call. The 4H tents were blowing down in the blustery storm and the only person up there was the kids' sixty something leader.
So Don grabbed a handful of our kids and went up.
But many many times the call comes in and we find ourselves saying yes before really thinking it through. We try every New Years and then again every August to go over the next months and see what we can fit in and what has to be a no.
I think we might make it if I never let Donnie near the phone. He has no trouble saying no to me, but is patently unable to say no to anyone outside the family!
It might be the one really good thing about my slow neck recovery (slow in my mind, the recovery itself has been quite standard for this sort of surgery.) I cannot say yes to anything and it limits Donnie from saying yes too. (Assuming of course I get to the phone before he does.)
There are lot of really important things that could use our attention. Our Youth Minister has been let go, the church needs Confirmation teachers, the 4H needs a couple of leaders, the girls town basketball could use a few more volunteers.... the list goes on
Right now however Don starts a certificate course 2 nights a week in Auto-CAD...first time he has been in school since 1973. He is still looking for work and hockey season gets underway. I am committed to the high school PTO and a committee that is preparing our middle/high school for accreditation. I will also be working part time, fighting the weight loss get in shape war, and of course the big deal that still consumes my waking and sleeping hours- fusing my cadaver bones to my regular bones.
Then of course their is my brother and his special needs. The support to Special Olympics and his shed building volunteer work. We have the 2 in college so support gets thrown their way. Then the 3 younger ones and their schooling, extra curricular activities, jobs, CCD, 4H etc....all the pets.... Oops and lets not forget supporting married daughter and son in law and their new home, new bunny and new dog! (Thankfully its all moral and occasionally physical support my darlings Mary and Matt never ask for money!)
Hmmm I am exhausted just looking and I did not even include our fun hobbies like Donnie's Civil War research, or my bunnies, or our garden and home.
Come to think of it I am going to print this out and leave a copy of it by the phone, after I take a nap. I am exhausted just looking at it all.
FALL is our favorite time of year. This year I vow not to need an Oprah-like intervention to slow down and breath.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
A New Home
Last night I had to add a new phone number to the list of numbers I am suppose to keep track of. It will be pretty simple however as I only really need to keep in mind the last four numbers. The proceeding 6 are from an area code and exchange I grew up with in Hanson.
The new number I need to know is for Mary and Matt and their land line. They just bought their house in Hanson, the little town I grew up in.
She used her cell when she lived down in Providence going to Brown University. They never bothered with a land line when they married and had their 2 apartments, first way far away in Billerica and then much closer in Abington.
But now they are putting down roots of their own and the land line is symbolic of that. Thankfully they are 'rooting' not far from home in a town that has always been a second home to them anyway. Matt's uncle lives literally two doors down and across the street from them. He spent a good part of his childhood in and out of that house and he and his year younger cousin shared friends and adventures there.
Both of my Mary's parents of course grew up there and our families still live there and so Mary too spent as nearly as much time in Hanson as she did in Carver.
It was fun listening to her describe the excitement and nervousness she felt as she made all those 'new house' calls you make to the electric and phone company etc. It reminded me of when Don and I first married and rented that first place of our own, how scary and grown up it seemed to get a phone! Now of course kids practically have their own cellphone and number in utero!
But I recall, I got such a charge out of making those arrangements that at each rental place I continued the job of making those arrangements. It is funny when we finally got our own house (ten years after we married!)~ you use to be able to call any Carver number simply by dialing the last 4 numbers.
Now of course every body has a million numbers, area codes, exchanges, and thank fully phone memories to speed dial all your favorite people. Heaven help us if we had to keep track of all those numbers!
The day the kids signed papers and got their kepys I spent at home feeling all weepy and missing my mom and dad. How proud they would be of their first grand child.
I stupidly told Mary that when we went to see her new home and she and I both started crying in her kitchen. I should've kept it to myself and not marred her excitement !
The house of course is wonderful and all their plans sound so exciting and ambitious. Sitting in the dark in her jacuzzi and going over yard and garden thoughts was so relaxing but it is still startling ot think of my baby as a homeowner so completely independent of me!
The new number I need to know is for Mary and Matt and their land line. They just bought their house in Hanson, the little town I grew up in.
She used her cell when she lived down in Providence going to Brown University. They never bothered with a land line when they married and had their 2 apartments, first way far away in Billerica and then much closer in Abington.
But now they are putting down roots of their own and the land line is symbolic of that. Thankfully they are 'rooting' not far from home in a town that has always been a second home to them anyway. Matt's uncle lives literally two doors down and across the street from them. He spent a good part of his childhood in and out of that house and he and his year younger cousin shared friends and adventures there.
Both of my Mary's parents of course grew up there and our families still live there and so Mary too spent as nearly as much time in Hanson as she did in Carver.
It was fun listening to her describe the excitement and nervousness she felt as she made all those 'new house' calls you make to the electric and phone company etc. It reminded me of when Don and I first married and rented that first place of our own, how scary and grown up it seemed to get a phone! Now of course kids practically have their own cellphone and number in utero!
But I recall, I got such a charge out of making those arrangements that at each rental place I continued the job of making those arrangements. It is funny when we finally got our own house (ten years after we married!)~ you use to be able to call any Carver number simply by dialing the last 4 numbers.
Now of course every body has a million numbers, area codes, exchanges, and thank fully phone memories to speed dial all your favorite people. Heaven help us if we had to keep track of all those numbers!
The day the kids signed papers and got their kepys I spent at home feeling all weepy and missing my mom and dad. How proud they would be of their first grand child.
I stupidly told Mary that when we went to see her new home and she and I both started crying in her kitchen. I should've kept it to myself and not marred her excitement !
The house of course is wonderful and all their plans sound so exciting and ambitious. Sitting in the dark in her jacuzzi and going over yard and garden thoughts was so relaxing but it is still startling ot think of my baby as a homeowner so completely independent of me!
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Fusion starting
I am still trying to process everything from the doctors office and feeling a little overwhelmed. But I know I will be back to my cheerful self tomorrow, just need a little time.
The very good news is the bone is in the beginning stages of fusion, right on target. The excellent news is my arm strength on that side has returned to completely normal. He was very pleased about that. He felt the fusion was average but the return of strength unusual and he mentioned it a number of times while doing various strength tests.
But I did not expect his verdict on exercise and you have read this blog enough to know my body does not shed a pound without it. I figured he would say no to running. But he was adamant about no aerobic workouts (except walking) no dancing, no YOGA, cannot even walk the dog because of the pulling! He feels very strongly about this for 6 more weeks and possibly another 3 months after that.
He went over it a number of times and felt except for adding driving to my day (and my return to work in Sept at the kindergarten) I am to do nothing, not real housework, not real gardening- NOTHING!
He made me promise I would do as he says and not be stubborn. (lol like he knows me or something!)Of course I vowed I would follow his advice to the letter, I just wanted his advice to be what I WANTED! He also told me it was not his advice it was his orders! I do spend quite a bit of my life praying like this:" Thy will be done...except..."
We left his office and I was a bit dazed. Our plan was to sneak out to lunch without the children and then go kayaking on the pond. But kayaking plan was kaput so we headed to Fridays (had a coupon!) I really wanted to go with the fried comfort food at Fridays! Instead I ordered chicken (and only ate one of the 2 breasts!) steamed broccoli and sweet potato fries. We then took a brisk walk around Boston and then at the Quincy quarries.
All the while I tried to process the visit. You see I had carefully written out questions and thought I had gone over every scenario in my mind. But it never occurred to me that he was say 'it looks good but no normal life yet for you!'
Now I am well aware how truly lucky I am. Many people leave this surgery with permanent damage and I have appeared to have escaped that. The numbness and pain I still expereicne he felt was in the normal range andshsould diminish even over the next 6 weeks.
I guess after having my life so intricately tied into this injury for the last4 months I must've really counted on today being the day I am fully back to me.
But the doctor really took the time to make sure I clearly understood that for the ADCF to have real success I had to be extraordinarily careful to follow all his conservative orders.
Of course I shall do just as he says and tomorrow I will be all rainbows and butterflies again. Today however I am fretting about my diminished work capabilities, the herculean task to try to lose weight without real exercise, and the adverse impact this will continue ot have on my family for another 6 weeks and probably 3 more months after that.
My mind keeps wanting to file this under 'no big deal.' But it really is and will continue to be for the near future anyway.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Misssion accomplished and an education included!
The bunny condo is complete and the first of the bunnies have moved in. I have lots of photos taken over the span of the building phase, and as soon as I can organize them I shall post here or on Facebook.
From start to finish Don has done the lion's share of the work. But the children made various contributions and my own help has been more than any of them at least!
The construction phase certainly taught us all a lot about building and a bit about our selves. Don was always disappointed that Jamie was the only one of his children to ever express an interest in 'fixing and building stuff'. But although Donnie has endless patience teaching a child the fine points of a sport like hockey or softball he is honestly not very patient about teaching them a job he can do quicker himself than in the time it takes to show a child how.
He also has an exacting work ethic about doing a neat and tidy job. This of course does not extend to other areas of his life, just his building. So he ends up getting aggravated with the job a kid does do!
Then there is that whole motivation thing. The only kid remotely interested in the project to begin with was Joe the child whose attention span is the smallest of them all (possibly the shortest attention span in the entire neighborhood. It was often easier to keep Joe's buddies on task than Joe!) Since no kid was motivated no kid put their 100% in. This baffled Don since in his mind he is not interested particularly in the rabbits but he was giving his all. He forgets of course that he is always interested in any building project and he loves to design and build anything....bunny house, patio, garden bed.
So the kid most interested was the hardest to keep on task. The kid with any real building talent, Jamie, just got his licence and has a chip on his shoulder in any conversation that does not immediately benefit him. (ah to be 17 .) So his contribution consisted of making and mostly painting the door catches, but only after a barrage of criticisms, complaints and one giant huff of a storm off.
This left our artist daughter who did not want to paint, our other artistic daughter who did not want to do anything but veg in front of the TV, and our college boy who 'yes sir-ed' and then did the absolute minimum. On the other hand he was at least pleasant and contributed just enough to ensure he had a car to visit the new girlfriend!
This left Tim whose fine motor skills have never been very good. He laboriously worked hard but in the end still could not cut the heavy gage wire or screw in the screws at proper angles. With such an abject work crew you can see why Donnie is known as Mr. Loner!
But it is complete and the bunnies are happy and we recycled reduced and reused!
BTW I had the opportunity to learn about and experiment with a number of tools I had never tried before-the names of some of which read like Urban Dictionary.
For instance do you know what a 'HAND SCREW" is? hmmm no wonder guys like to hang out in their workshops and garages away from the rest of us. They just want to name their tools various fresh things and not have to behave. Well a hand screw is a large rather phallic handle attached to a clamp that you screw on by hand to hold something in place.
From start to finish Don has done the lion's share of the work. But the children made various contributions and my own help has been more than any of them at least!
The construction phase certainly taught us all a lot about building and a bit about our selves. Don was always disappointed that Jamie was the only one of his children to ever express an interest in 'fixing and building stuff'. But although Donnie has endless patience teaching a child the fine points of a sport like hockey or softball he is honestly not very patient about teaching them a job he can do quicker himself than in the time it takes to show a child how.
He also has an exacting work ethic about doing a neat and tidy job. This of course does not extend to other areas of his life, just his building. So he ends up getting aggravated with the job a kid does do!
Then there is that whole motivation thing. The only kid remotely interested in the project to begin with was Joe the child whose attention span is the smallest of them all (possibly the shortest attention span in the entire neighborhood. It was often easier to keep Joe's buddies on task than Joe!) Since no kid was motivated no kid put their 100% in. This baffled Don since in his mind he is not interested particularly in the rabbits but he was giving his all. He forgets of course that he is always interested in any building project and he loves to design and build anything....bunny house, patio, garden bed.
So the kid most interested was the hardest to keep on task. The kid with any real building talent, Jamie, just got his licence and has a chip on his shoulder in any conversation that does not immediately benefit him. (ah to be 17 .) So his contribution consisted of making and mostly painting the door catches, but only after a barrage of criticisms, complaints and one giant huff of a storm off.
This left our artist daughter who did not want to paint, our other artistic daughter who did not want to do anything but veg in front of the TV, and our college boy who 'yes sir-ed' and then did the absolute minimum. On the other hand he was at least pleasant and contributed just enough to ensure he had a car to visit the new girlfriend!
This left Tim whose fine motor skills have never been very good. He laboriously worked hard but in the end still could not cut the heavy gage wire or screw in the screws at proper angles. With such an abject work crew you can see why Donnie is known as Mr. Loner!
But it is complete and the bunnies are happy and we recycled reduced and reused!
BTW I had the opportunity to learn about and experiment with a number of tools I had never tried before-the names of some of which read like Urban Dictionary.
For instance do you know what a 'HAND SCREW" is? hmmm no wonder guys like to hang out in their workshops and garages away from the rest of us. They just want to name their tools various fresh things and not have to behave. Well a hand screw is a large rather phallic handle attached to a clamp that you screw on by hand to hold something in place.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
On a mission.
Our goal is to have all the bunnies in their new digs by tomorrow night, which leaves 24 hours left to finish the Dwarf bunny condo. Well it is my goal anyway. So for the last 2 days I have posted myself outside to keep children from distracting Donnie.
No your father will not drive you to your friends. No your father will not run you up to WalMart. No your father is not fixing your bike, your light, or your bedroom door!!!
Why is it then when kids are playing a video game or watching Star Wars for the one millionth time they are busy, but their father must be doing nothing with that saw running or when he is up on a ladder hammering away?
The hardest part has been trying to get Mr. Loner to share the work load. There are plenty of people around here perfectly capable of using a saw or wielding a paint brush, if only he would take a moment and organize the work schedule. But of course as every mother knows it is sooooooooo much easier to get the work done correctly if one goes it alone!
So I spend part of each day saying, "OK while you are working on that what job can I have Corey or Julie do to make things go more quickly?"
The condo is looking awesome but Don feels he is rusty and out of shape. The other 3 sheds were built while he was working at a shed building place (or shortly there after.) So the quick fixes and simple go tos that he once knew allude him until he is half way in the middle of something. Add to that the fact that we are trying to recycle as much as we possibly can to keep costs down. Therefore at each step of the process he has to stop and go over what we have at home vs what he needs to build and see what we can make do with.
For instance the plastic pans (or trays) that go under the cages cost about 22 dollars a piece for the 18 inches by 24 inch size that we need. We need 15 of them at a total cost of 320$, and that is just for pans!
But over the years I have collected pans from people going out of bunny showing, carefully rinsing them out and storing behind the fence. Some pans have become bases for ball games. One pan was used to mix cement, one as a resting place for tennis balls. So I searched and scoured and scrubbed and oh no I was 2 pans short. 2 pans is 44 bucks, heck we could go out to dinner and have a drink for 44 bucks I gotta come up with something! Donnie watched me hem and haw and then pointing to a couple of 36 by 24 inch pans he shows me how they can be used in the place of the 2 smaller ones. Simple solution!
Because of my recovery of course I am unable to help with much of the real work, although I cut all the frames for the doors, for the trays, and for the roof rafters. I was also able to do some painting. But mostly I have been tidying up the other barns, catching up on rabbit paperwork, breeding for the Fall. I hung 2 cages up, fixed my grooming table, and of course plotted and planned all the great show wins to come.
Don is a silent worker- no surprise- but we rub along fine. I comment to him about something I have learned or check to make sure he has had enough to eat or drink, but I have long ago given up ever expecting a conversation from him while we work. He does one thing at a time and I do a million. But I do not think I could build this correctly and so I respect his way. He of course is perfectly happy building something he has no use for. He takes pride in knowing enough about bunny raising though to make sure extra touches, like the way the floor wire runs safest for little rabbit claws, or to leave a little shelf because invariably one is needed!
As for me, I intercept children when they get too close. (I dont care about the dangerous shop equipment but darn it they are NOT to interupt him from his task!) Of course the various neighbor kids have to poke around. I put them to work handling baby bunnies in the little exercise pen, the buns that will go to Marshfield Fair this week for sale.
I am still not up to full speed but it feels so good to have my thousand mile a minute brain back. I carefully snap pictures at every step of the process although there is little chance of him making one for someone else. The time it takes would make it cost prohibtive I imagine since it is such custom work.
But earlier this spring we got rid of a ton of old metal lying around, including dozens of other folks abandoned bunny cages. That money was set aside for cages for this Fall. Add to it the profit from bunny sales this Fall and all the recycled stuff we had lying around and we should just break even!
Feels great to be back in bunny world again. Feels wonderful to be working on a project together. Most of all- as I held those bits of boards on the saw table- it sure feels good to have the full use of my arms!
+
No your father will not drive you to your friends. No your father will not run you up to WalMart. No your father is not fixing your bike, your light, or your bedroom door!!!
Why is it then when kids are playing a video game or watching Star Wars for the one millionth time they are busy, but their father must be doing nothing with that saw running or when he is up on a ladder hammering away?
The hardest part has been trying to get Mr. Loner to share the work load. There are plenty of people around here perfectly capable of using a saw or wielding a paint brush, if only he would take a moment and organize the work schedule. But of course as every mother knows it is sooooooooo much easier to get the work done correctly if one goes it alone!
So I spend part of each day saying, "OK while you are working on that what job can I have Corey or Julie do to make things go more quickly?"
The condo is looking awesome but Don feels he is rusty and out of shape. The other 3 sheds were built while he was working at a shed building place (or shortly there after.) So the quick fixes and simple go tos that he once knew allude him until he is half way in the middle of something. Add to that the fact that we are trying to recycle as much as we possibly can to keep costs down. Therefore at each step of the process he has to stop and go over what we have at home vs what he needs to build and see what we can make do with.
For instance the plastic pans (or trays) that go under the cages cost about 22 dollars a piece for the 18 inches by 24 inch size that we need. We need 15 of them at a total cost of 320$, and that is just for pans!
But over the years I have collected pans from people going out of bunny showing, carefully rinsing them out and storing behind the fence. Some pans have become bases for ball games. One pan was used to mix cement, one as a resting place for tennis balls. So I searched and scoured and scrubbed and oh no I was 2 pans short. 2 pans is 44 bucks, heck we could go out to dinner and have a drink for 44 bucks I gotta come up with something! Donnie watched me hem and haw and then pointing to a couple of 36 by 24 inch pans he shows me how they can be used in the place of the 2 smaller ones. Simple solution!
Because of my recovery of course I am unable to help with much of the real work, although I cut all the frames for the doors, for the trays, and for the roof rafters. I was also able to do some painting. But mostly I have been tidying up the other barns, catching up on rabbit paperwork, breeding for the Fall. I hung 2 cages up, fixed my grooming table, and of course plotted and planned all the great show wins to come.
Don is a silent worker- no surprise- but we rub along fine. I comment to him about something I have learned or check to make sure he has had enough to eat or drink, but I have long ago given up ever expecting a conversation from him while we work. He does one thing at a time and I do a million. But I do not think I could build this correctly and so I respect his way. He of course is perfectly happy building something he has no use for. He takes pride in knowing enough about bunny raising though to make sure extra touches, like the way the floor wire runs safest for little rabbit claws, or to leave a little shelf because invariably one is needed!
As for me, I intercept children when they get too close. (I dont care about the dangerous shop equipment but darn it they are NOT to interupt him from his task!) Of course the various neighbor kids have to poke around. I put them to work handling baby bunnies in the little exercise pen, the buns that will go to Marshfield Fair this week for sale.
I am still not up to full speed but it feels so good to have my thousand mile a minute brain back. I carefully snap pictures at every step of the process although there is little chance of him making one for someone else. The time it takes would make it cost prohibtive I imagine since it is such custom work.
But earlier this spring we got rid of a ton of old metal lying around, including dozens of other folks abandoned bunny cages. That money was set aside for cages for this Fall. Add to it the profit from bunny sales this Fall and all the recycled stuff we had lying around and we should just break even!
Feels great to be back in bunny world again. Feels wonderful to be working on a project together. Most of all- as I held those bits of boards on the saw table- it sure feels good to have the full use of my arms!
+
Friday, August 13, 2010
Bunny world
15 years ago all Julie wanted for her 4th birthday was a horsey ride. The fact that her birthday was in January meant nothing to her. What does a kid understand about needing to shovel out a paddock? When we called around various horse barns we discovered a 4 years old's first ride in the winter was a cool 40 bucks.
Eventually we heard about a foster mom who raised horses and not only would she not charge us for the horse ride, but she spent an hour shoveling the nearly ten inches of snow that fell the night before so Julie could ride.
We left that day with a small angora bunny, little knowing what was in store for us. For the rest of that winter we visited the horses and found out more about rabbits. When we heard of an annual rabbit show at our favorite Camp Kiwanee that March we could not resist. Whoever heard of a rabbit show?
By the following March we were entering our own bunnies at Camp Kiwanee. Julie spent that day laying under the benches pretending SHE was a bunny. We kept having to feed her carrots. Corey won Houdini, a large white New Zealand in a raffle. He was named Houdini because in the years we owned him he managed to escape every cage we ever devised for him! Mary also purchased her first Holland lop Cinnamon Sugar there, and thus began her interest in genealogy!
Some years we won big, other years we fared not so well. In the last few years the kids busy schedules and waning interests kept us from many shows. For the last 2 summers I kept figuring we would stop. I would attend a couple of shows and feel frustrated by my poor showing and how far I was falling behind. The kids stopped breeding their animals and began to turn down even attending a show. But late last summer I suddenly realized something that took me 25 years or so to learn.
Who cares if the kids no longer were interested? I WAS! Now that the children were older why did every weekend have to revolve around their interests and activities?
We had a wonderful dozen years of showing rabbits as a family.We attended every agricultural fair in New England, had crazy adventures, met fascinating people. Our bunny showing days as a family were fun and fulfilling. But just because the kids moved on to other things did not mean I had to!
So I spoke with a couple of long time bunny breeder friends and they generously shared a few brood does with me to jump start my breeding program. I was also given a typey buck from one of the top Dwarf breeders in the country.
This spring I really culled the herd and worked on and stuck with a consistent breeding program. (of course my injury and subsequent surgery did slow it up. But since I had been so methodical up until the pain made summer breeding and record keeping too challenging---ok the previous sentence reads as if I were breeding oh stop laughing you know what I mean!)
Anyway I am committed to 5 more shows for the 2010 season plus 2 other shows that might be possibilities. I asked Don for help building a Dwarf condo and he readily sketched out for me a blueprint for an economical shelter that makes use of plenty of recycled material.
My renewed interest has sparked Joe and he does have a few showable buns and plans to learn more about rabbit color genetics. That would be great but I am not depending on him, I am depending on me.
I have loved these last few days, looking over pedigrees, chatting with bunny folks. I marvel at how easy it is for Don to envision a bunny housing unit after my telling him what I needed. I pour over my color genetics information. I renew my membership in the national clubs.
I day dream about the BIG shows, the National and the Convention. Donnie patiently listens to my musings. Although he is still not the animal person he loves to build a better mousetrap and is perfectly happy revising bunny barn configurations. He enjoys attending the rabbits shows if he does not have to watch kids and if I can squeeze a rabbit show into the calender and family finances he will cheerfully drive me and spend the day with the bunny folk.
While looking over old pedigrees or preparing for an upcoming show, or even just grooming the bunnies, I am filled with nostalgia and remember whens.... remember when Mary won BOB for her Holland at the same show Tim won BOB for his Dtuch and Julie for her Angora? Remeember the snow storm Jamie, Julie, Nikki, and I drove thru on the Maine turnpike the day after we got the new van? Remember Mammoth Caves in Kentucky? Fried dough at the fairs? Reemember when Nikki made one of the top New Zealand people in the country hold her Barbie doll?
But they are happy memeories and I plan on this new stage making plenty more. I would love it if Joe really holds the bunny interest. I have fantasies that now that Mary owns her own home nearby she will get back into it. But I do not need them to do it in order for me to do so.
It is still odd to think of a life independent from kids. Perhaps I cannot explain it correctly. I loved my life with all the dozens of fosters, all the ilttle league games, and Pokiemon cards. I still want more kids.
But if I have to be in this nextstage of life....life as a mother of grown and nearly grown children then what the heck.....bunny hsows here I come!
Eventually we heard about a foster mom who raised horses and not only would she not charge us for the horse ride, but she spent an hour shoveling the nearly ten inches of snow that fell the night before so Julie could ride.
We left that day with a small angora bunny, little knowing what was in store for us. For the rest of that winter we visited the horses and found out more about rabbits. When we heard of an annual rabbit show at our favorite Camp Kiwanee that March we could not resist. Whoever heard of a rabbit show?
By the following March we were entering our own bunnies at Camp Kiwanee. Julie spent that day laying under the benches pretending SHE was a bunny. We kept having to feed her carrots. Corey won Houdini, a large white New Zealand in a raffle. He was named Houdini because in the years we owned him he managed to escape every cage we ever devised for him! Mary also purchased her first Holland lop Cinnamon Sugar there, and thus began her interest in genealogy!
Some years we won big, other years we fared not so well. In the last few years the kids busy schedules and waning interests kept us from many shows. For the last 2 summers I kept figuring we would stop. I would attend a couple of shows and feel frustrated by my poor showing and how far I was falling behind. The kids stopped breeding their animals and began to turn down even attending a show. But late last summer I suddenly realized something that took me 25 years or so to learn.
Who cares if the kids no longer were interested? I WAS! Now that the children were older why did every weekend have to revolve around their interests and activities?
We had a wonderful dozen years of showing rabbits as a family.We attended every agricultural fair in New England, had crazy adventures, met fascinating people. Our bunny showing days as a family were fun and fulfilling. But just because the kids moved on to other things did not mean I had to!
So I spoke with a couple of long time bunny breeder friends and they generously shared a few brood does with me to jump start my breeding program. I was also given a typey buck from one of the top Dwarf breeders in the country.
This spring I really culled the herd and worked on and stuck with a consistent breeding program. (of course my injury and subsequent surgery did slow it up. But since I had been so methodical up until the pain made summer breeding and record keeping too challenging---ok the previous sentence reads as if I were breeding oh stop laughing you know what I mean!)
Anyway I am committed to 5 more shows for the 2010 season plus 2 other shows that might be possibilities. I asked Don for help building a Dwarf condo and he readily sketched out for me a blueprint for an economical shelter that makes use of plenty of recycled material.
My renewed interest has sparked Joe and he does have a few showable buns and plans to learn more about rabbit color genetics. That would be great but I am not depending on him, I am depending on me.
I have loved these last few days, looking over pedigrees, chatting with bunny folks. I marvel at how easy it is for Don to envision a bunny housing unit after my telling him what I needed. I pour over my color genetics information. I renew my membership in the national clubs.
I day dream about the BIG shows, the National and the Convention. Donnie patiently listens to my musings. Although he is still not the animal person he loves to build a better mousetrap and is perfectly happy revising bunny barn configurations. He enjoys attending the rabbits shows if he does not have to watch kids and if I can squeeze a rabbit show into the calender and family finances he will cheerfully drive me and spend the day with the bunny folk.
While looking over old pedigrees or preparing for an upcoming show, or even just grooming the bunnies, I am filled with nostalgia and remember whens.... remember when Mary won BOB for her Holland at the same show Tim won BOB for his Dtuch and Julie for her Angora? Remeember the snow storm Jamie, Julie, Nikki, and I drove thru on the Maine turnpike the day after we got the new van? Remember Mammoth Caves in Kentucky? Fried dough at the fairs? Reemember when Nikki made one of the top New Zealand people in the country hold her Barbie doll?
But they are happy memeories and I plan on this new stage making plenty more. I would love it if Joe really holds the bunny interest. I have fantasies that now that Mary owns her own home nearby she will get back into it. But I do not need them to do it in order for me to do so.
It is still odd to think of a life independent from kids. Perhaps I cannot explain it correctly. I loved my life with all the dozens of fosters, all the ilttle league games, and Pokiemon cards. I still want more kids.
But if I have to be in this nextstage of life....life as a mother of grown and nearly grown children then what the heck.....bunny hsows here I come!
Saturday, August 07, 2010
New Stove and a dishwasher
You can see in the second photo that the very first item to cook in the new oven is of course chocolately chocolate chip cookies. The basic whiteness of the stove, its simple clean lines and lack of adornment looks so old fshioned, like the stove in our apartment in Boston when I was a kid.
Friday, August 06, 2010
A walk and a plan
Today we had a fun hike planned, the hour long loop around the reservoir at Miles Standish. Only Joe wanted to come along and so I decided to try out my new pedometer heart rate watch thingy.
It is a great hike, mostly shady, along a dirt trail. I still cannot look straight down at my feet, although for most of the hike I did not wear the neck brace. I am getting pretty good at judging where my feet should go.
Donnie led us and kept a brisk pace and I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I could indeed get my heart rate up to an aerobic workout and still maintain the pace. Of course I did nap when I got home although I tried to stay awake. But it was fun to feel like I could really move, at least for that hour.
There were a number of white tags attached to various flora and fauna identifying the plants and Joe and I had great fun putting names to plants we see all around us and never knew the names too. He and I kept up a steady stream of chatter with Don barely able to get a word in.
Joe is fretting that his Cross Country plans this Fall will interfere with his push to gain weight. (He now takes a medicine at night to help him with that.) Then that conversation triggered my memory of a new thing I just learned last night. The medication I have been taking for muscle spams....daily for 3 months until my surgery.... causes weight GAIN as one of the side effects. I never knew this.
I have taken the medication for over 19 years but never for more than a day or two at a time with sometimes months between doses. So I was never aware of the problem. Obviously a day or two of the pills would not make any weight difference. Taking them daily however affected my body in a way I had not realized. So in the months leading up to my surgery I had been having steady gains weekly in spite of my carefully following Weight Watchers.
I was afraid that my body was never gonna lose the remaining weight and had no idea what to do about the gains. I had had some small gain late last winter at the start of my new phase in life (ahhhh hot flashes!) But I knew I was on plan and not 'cheating' in these last few months.
I knew no matter what my weight I needed to be at my physical healthiest before surgery. So I had been VERY careful with my eating and still the gains.
To discover it was from the pils and not my 'fault' was a huge relief. Of course I still have to lose the same old dumb weight again. But it really is comforting to know it could not have been helped.
So a big walk today and then a rest. Tomorrow a small walk and then a rest and then a real treat. Don and I will head up to the bunny show. We have received 4 other invitations for tomorrow: a college graduation party, a beach house party, a surprise 50th birthday party, and a 60th birthday party.
I would like to do any and all and was busily trying to squeeze them in. But Don rightly nixed that idea. I still do not have a normal person's stamina never mind my typical do a hundred things a day constitution!
So we go up to the rabbit show late afternoon. We are taking the van and if I conk out I can stretch out and sleep. I wish I could go to the other events. Some of the folks I have not seen in so long. If anyone is up in the Topsfiled area the show goes from 6pm until about 3-4 am and there is no admission price. Maybe you can come up there and visit with me surrounded by a 1000 bunnies!
It is a great hike, mostly shady, along a dirt trail. I still cannot look straight down at my feet, although for most of the hike I did not wear the neck brace. I am getting pretty good at judging where my feet should go.
Donnie led us and kept a brisk pace and I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I could indeed get my heart rate up to an aerobic workout and still maintain the pace. Of course I did nap when I got home although I tried to stay awake. But it was fun to feel like I could really move, at least for that hour.
There were a number of white tags attached to various flora and fauna identifying the plants and Joe and I had great fun putting names to plants we see all around us and never knew the names too. He and I kept up a steady stream of chatter with Don barely able to get a word in.
Joe is fretting that his Cross Country plans this Fall will interfere with his push to gain weight. (He now takes a medicine at night to help him with that.) Then that conversation triggered my memory of a new thing I just learned last night. The medication I have been taking for muscle spams....daily for 3 months until my surgery.... causes weight GAIN as one of the side effects. I never knew this.
I have taken the medication for over 19 years but never for more than a day or two at a time with sometimes months between doses. So I was never aware of the problem. Obviously a day or two of the pills would not make any weight difference. Taking them daily however affected my body in a way I had not realized. So in the months leading up to my surgery I had been having steady gains weekly in spite of my carefully following Weight Watchers.
I was afraid that my body was never gonna lose the remaining weight and had no idea what to do about the gains. I had had some small gain late last winter at the start of my new phase in life (ahhhh hot flashes!) But I knew I was on plan and not 'cheating' in these last few months.
I knew no matter what my weight I needed to be at my physical healthiest before surgery. So I had been VERY careful with my eating and still the gains.
To discover it was from the pils and not my 'fault' was a huge relief. Of course I still have to lose the same old dumb weight again. But it really is comforting to know it could not have been helped.
So a big walk today and then a rest. Tomorrow a small walk and then a rest and then a real treat. Don and I will head up to the bunny show. We have received 4 other invitations for tomorrow: a college graduation party, a beach house party, a surprise 50th birthday party, and a 60th birthday party.
I would like to do any and all and was busily trying to squeeze them in. But Don rightly nixed that idea. I still do not have a normal person's stamina never mind my typical do a hundred things a day constitution!
So we go up to the rabbit show late afternoon. We are taking the van and if I conk out I can stretch out and sleep. I wish I could go to the other events. Some of the folks I have not seen in so long. If anyone is up in the Topsfiled area the show goes from 6pm until about 3-4 am and there is no admission price. Maybe you can come up there and visit with me surrounded by a 1000 bunnies!
Thursday, August 05, 2010
Old McBlauss had a farm ei ei o...
In spite of the distant thunder and the spitting rain, apparently the state is spraying tonight. So after dinner Don, Joe, and I puttered about battening down the hatches on our little farm.
I have daydreams of acreage, rolling fields dotted with peacefully grazing sheep, baby goats mischievously kicking up their heels, and rows and rows of produce.
Instead I have my nearly one acre, its productive garden and -although no sheep or goats yet- the chickens and bunnies count as livestock. True our rather confused sheep dog takes great delight in herding the bunnies and trying to guard the gold fish in the outdoor pond...
But I love the work of the mini farm. Breeding stock, starting crops, planning the best lay outs of cages, barns, garden beds. I get so excited at the birth of a new bunny or as you so recently read about the blossoming of a single pumpkin.
I enjoy the harvest, the bunny shows, the sharing of our labors. I don't even mind the grunt work of cleaning cages, shoveling manure, wheel barrowing endless dirt. (Although my neck surgery just may have effectively barred me from the wheel barrow for life!)
Even the putting down of the sick and the burying of the dead offers a certain circle of life comfort. Sometimes for instance when I see the incredible bloom of pink on the beauty bush I am reminded of Rainy, Tim's first dutch who is buried beneath it.
Once on a while there is even excitement or drama. A loose bunny causes a great stir as we dash about trying to catch it. Feeding and watering during a snow storm is very Little House on the Prairie. Also nights like tonight when we have to figure out ways to best protect animals from the aerial spraying offers some spice to the routine. For instance,the barns are set up to allow plenty of fresh air. But we have ways of closing them off when nec.
Feed is stored in rodent proof containers (metal trash cans, and in all these years we have never had a mouse, rat, squirrel, or skunk invade the feed!) But as you can imagine with kids the lids are often left off. So we double check grain, make sure hay is covered, bring in extra water bottles and block off outdoor runs that the garden bunnies enjoy.
I move two baby bunnies that have been enjoying an outdoor cage under the shade of the apple trees.It has been great fun having them out there in the garden with me. But tonight I tuck them in an oversize carry cage in the bunny barn. I would not want them to get mosquito repellent sprayed.
I carefully pick any ripe or nearly ripe fruits and veggies and bring them indoors. Then Joe and I weed and carry the greens to the chickens. The hens will not be allowed to graze on greens for 2 days according to the state, so I want to make sure they get plenty today. At 8 we will block off their access to the outdoor run although they are normally roosting by then.
We then scout the yard for any buckets or toys that might collect water and thus breed mosquitoes. Its a fun way to spend the evening and while I fantise about those larger animals and a larger farm I am happy in my little spot, with its tiny cranberry bog, the 3B's Farm sign that Julie made for me, and and all our plantings and animals.
I have daydreams of acreage, rolling fields dotted with peacefully grazing sheep, baby goats mischievously kicking up their heels, and rows and rows of produce.
Instead I have my nearly one acre, its productive garden and -although no sheep or goats yet- the chickens and bunnies count as livestock. True our rather confused sheep dog takes great delight in herding the bunnies and trying to guard the gold fish in the outdoor pond...
But I love the work of the mini farm. Breeding stock, starting crops, planning the best lay outs of cages, barns, garden beds. I get so excited at the birth of a new bunny or as you so recently read about the blossoming of a single pumpkin.
I enjoy the harvest, the bunny shows, the sharing of our labors. I don't even mind the grunt work of cleaning cages, shoveling manure, wheel barrowing endless dirt. (Although my neck surgery just may have effectively barred me from the wheel barrow for life!)
Even the putting down of the sick and the burying of the dead offers a certain circle of life comfort. Sometimes for instance when I see the incredible bloom of pink on the beauty bush I am reminded of Rainy, Tim's first dutch who is buried beneath it.
Once on a while there is even excitement or drama. A loose bunny causes a great stir as we dash about trying to catch it. Feeding and watering during a snow storm is very Little House on the Prairie. Also nights like tonight when we have to figure out ways to best protect animals from the aerial spraying offers some spice to the routine. For instance,the barns are set up to allow plenty of fresh air. But we have ways of closing them off when nec.
Feed is stored in rodent proof containers (metal trash cans, and in all these years we have never had a mouse, rat, squirrel, or skunk invade the feed!) But as you can imagine with kids the lids are often left off. So we double check grain, make sure hay is covered, bring in extra water bottles and block off outdoor runs that the garden bunnies enjoy.
I move two baby bunnies that have been enjoying an outdoor cage under the shade of the apple trees.It has been great fun having them out there in the garden with me. But tonight I tuck them in an oversize carry cage in the bunny barn. I would not want them to get mosquito repellent sprayed.
I carefully pick any ripe or nearly ripe fruits and veggies and bring them indoors. Then Joe and I weed and carry the greens to the chickens. The hens will not be allowed to graze on greens for 2 days according to the state, so I want to make sure they get plenty today. At 8 we will block off their access to the outdoor run although they are normally roosting by then.
We then scout the yard for any buckets or toys that might collect water and thus breed mosquitoes. Its a fun way to spend the evening and while I fantise about those larger animals and a larger farm I am happy in my little spot, with its tiny cranberry bog, the 3B's Farm sign that Julie made for me, and and all our plantings and animals.
Wednesday, August 04, 2010
4 weeks since surgery and living is easy...well getting there
One of the fun parts during recovery has been leafing through the 'lady' magazines (as opposed to girlie magazines:>) and picking out new recipes to try. I always enjoy learning to make a new recipe and between all my fun Tupperware stuff, the emphasis on good fresh food with Weight Watchers, and the push for bone building healing between my new cadaver bones and my own bones....well there is every good reason to find new ways to make good food.
Plus my garden is bursting with herbs, tomatoes, and cucumbers so as many recipes as can incorporate those items the better. To add to the excitement is at some point this week or next I will have a working oven. As you may be aware our 7 year old stove has been a problem for years and cost us some ka-ching trying to keep it running. This aggravates me no end because shouldn't appliances last 20 years or so? I mean its not like the kids fool around with it or I have been to rough on it. Its an oven!
Well for about 4 months now we have been oven less. The stove top still works. We also have a small microwave and a small toaster oven. But imagine for a moment trying to plan meals for upwards of 9 people (depending if college kids are home) without being able to use an oven. It ain't easy believe you me!
Since my surgery it has been particularly challenging since Don has tried to do all the cooking. Now he is the man to turn to if you want something cooked on the outside grill. Also simple kid staples like chicken nuggets and fries (oven based!) are his thing. One of the few recipes he makes well is a yummy Shepard's pie. But without the owrking oven... he had great fun trying to do that on the grill!
So after penny pinching and long discussions we finally decided to just go and get one. We knew we wanted the most basic on sale oven we could find and in any color except that awful stainless steel. I do not mean to insult anybody. Clearly stainless steal is the only kitchen fashion the world agrees on. Everyone but me loves it. However when I see it all I can think of is that avocado green everyone loved in the 70s but now causes people to politely shudder. I think stainless steel will be like the beehive hairdo and Ugg boots in June. Years from now people will shake their head at their lack of good taste.
We were in luck, and i mean good luck not Blauss luck. When we arrived not only was there a simple white oven but also a dishwasher and if we took the floor models the price of 2 was what we had been saving for one.
Well...we have hand washed for many years and quite frankly it is a wonder we have not all died of ptomaine. So now my husband- who many times aggravates me and sometimes astounds me- has been calmly removing cabinets and planning on building a new counter top. He moved electricity to where it needed to be and did other mysterious things one needs to do in prep work for the plumber.
He worked like a dog and sweat like a pig but he has it all done and ready for installation. I peaked at it last night and marveled at the simple clean lines of white on white. (Remember? We painted the cabinets white this spring when I found out the cost of replacing the ugly mismatched ones we had. A can of paint and 25 dollars of matching drawer pulls and no one knows the cabinet do not match!)
Hopefully this week I will have a bit more energy and the recipes I have been gathering can be tried out in my test kitchen. The white stove top has four simple burners, none of this -five burner grill included stove top- like on the cooking channel. It has no electrical panel, doesn't even boast a light above it.
But it will soon be making my family meals with ingredients from our little farm. Best of all soon I will be back to the cooking!
Plus my garden is bursting with herbs, tomatoes, and cucumbers so as many recipes as can incorporate those items the better. To add to the excitement is at some point this week or next I will have a working oven. As you may be aware our 7 year old stove has been a problem for years and cost us some ka-ching trying to keep it running. This aggravates me no end because shouldn't appliances last 20 years or so? I mean its not like the kids fool around with it or I have been to rough on it. Its an oven!
Well for about 4 months now we have been oven less. The stove top still works. We also have a small microwave and a small toaster oven. But imagine for a moment trying to plan meals for upwards of 9 people (depending if college kids are home) without being able to use an oven. It ain't easy believe you me!
Since my surgery it has been particularly challenging since Don has tried to do all the cooking. Now he is the man to turn to if you want something cooked on the outside grill. Also simple kid staples like chicken nuggets and fries (oven based!) are his thing. One of the few recipes he makes well is a yummy Shepard's pie. But without the owrking oven... he had great fun trying to do that on the grill!
So after penny pinching and long discussions we finally decided to just go and get one. We knew we wanted the most basic on sale oven we could find and in any color except that awful stainless steel. I do not mean to insult anybody. Clearly stainless steal is the only kitchen fashion the world agrees on. Everyone but me loves it. However when I see it all I can think of is that avocado green everyone loved in the 70s but now causes people to politely shudder. I think stainless steel will be like the beehive hairdo and Ugg boots in June. Years from now people will shake their head at their lack of good taste.
We were in luck, and i mean good luck not Blauss luck. When we arrived not only was there a simple white oven but also a dishwasher and if we took the floor models the price of 2 was what we had been saving for one.
Well...we have hand washed for many years and quite frankly it is a wonder we have not all died of ptomaine. So now my husband- who many times aggravates me and sometimes astounds me- has been calmly removing cabinets and planning on building a new counter top. He moved electricity to where it needed to be and did other mysterious things one needs to do in prep work for the plumber.
He worked like a dog and sweat like a pig but he has it all done and ready for installation. I peaked at it last night and marveled at the simple clean lines of white on white. (Remember? We painted the cabinets white this spring when I found out the cost of replacing the ugly mismatched ones we had. A can of paint and 25 dollars of matching drawer pulls and no one knows the cabinet do not match!)
Hopefully this week I will have a bit more energy and the recipes I have been gathering can be tried out in my test kitchen. The white stove top has four simple burners, none of this -five burner grill included stove top- like on the cooking channel. It has no electrical panel, doesn't even boast a light above it.
But it will soon be making my family meals with ingredients from our little farm. Best of all soon I will be back to the cooking!
Sunday, August 01, 2010
Pumpkin watching
For 2001 Mother's Day the kids bought me some Martha Stewart pumpkin seeds for my garden. Those suckers were expensive but the kids did not feel the need to skimp on Mother's Day, particularly as they were spending their father's cash.
I had never really had much luck with pumpkins before except for those little baby gourd ones. But I had fun planting them, marveling at how few seeds were even in the exclusive Martha Stewart seed pack. Sure enough while Martha may be pricey, she provides a good product.
Those pumpkin seeds sprouted and began spreading vines every which way. The plants wandered 30 feet from where their roots were so firmly grounded! At the time the garden was not fenced. As a matter of fact we did not even have the stone wall built along the front or side. So those pumpkin vines cheerfully leapt from their bed and headed out onto the side hill, the bus stop, and even the road.
Neighborhood kids helped me push back the plants so they at least grew on ground not tar. Cheerful yellow flowers followed by green pumpkins began to appear everywhere. Some of the vines even became so heavy with fruit they began knocking down my tomato and cucumber cages.
On the news pumpkin farmers worried about the poor pumpkin crop that year but you would never know it to look at my garden. Interestingly none of the local teens stole or smashed the pumpkins even though there was no fence to protect the now orangey globes. We had enough pumpkins that year to place on on every neighbors porch with plenty left over to carve.
We have never had such pumpkin luck again although it occures to me I never bought those expensive Martha Stewart seeds so maybe it was her skill not my green thumb. I am pretty sure we had some plants reseed from the Martha pumpkins. But in 2002 my mom died in September and I never even looked at the Fall garden that year, so overcome by grief and desolation. The nof course Nana died not a year after that and although I know I gardened that year, the fun silliness of pumpkins was not even thought about.
This year there was a seed pack of three pumpkin plants already started and I impulse bought them while picking up something for the kids one day.I was quite pleased when 2 of the 3 plants seemed to settle right in and send out twisty green vines covered in yellow flowers. But all season there have been no pumpkins. The tomatos, cucumbers, peas, potatoes, and herbs have gone great guns this year. But those pumpkin plants seemed to be viney duds. Until today when finally, finally a lowly singular pumkin growing on its sturdy vine.
I dragged Donnie outside to show him and fretted about how best to protect my future Jack o Lantern. Naturally the vine has refused to stay in it appointed bed. Instead it is growing in the middle of the most busy garden path.
In spite of my worries Donnie insists the pumpkin will not be slaughtered while he is out and about doing errands and he will errect some sort of protective structure when he returns. I sit propped in my recovery chair gazing with affection at my baby pumpkin. I have fantisies of orange traffic cones and flashing lights warning of the dangers of hurting my pumpkin.
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