Kids Love Coffee

Growing Anew

noreply@blogger.com (Tracy) — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 17:17:00 +0000

Ugh, I hate failing. I try to remember how great people always failed. Lincoln failed. Edison failed. And even from a worldly view Jesus looked like a pretty big screw up. The thing that I admire about utter and complete failures is their ability to bounce back and not let their failure define them. And so, I spam you with inspirational quotes that teach us how to properly look at those events in life that tear us down.

I'm taking steps forward. I'm looking onward, and upward. I'm finding a new path for myself and realizing that the reason this is all hitting me so hard is because I've tied my identity to what I do and how I do at it rather than who I am. Which makes for a fragile ego. Ever changing depending on what I've done and how well I've done it. Looking at it like this sounds so exhausting.

So, I'm going back to the start (yes, I singing Coldplay as I type that). Who does God say that I am?

I am a child of God and an heir with Christ.

I am accepted by Christ.

I am the temple of the Spirit of God.

I am chosen, holy and blameless before Him.

I am God's workmanship, created to do good works.

I have been made complete in Christ.

It's really been a call back to His word. For a long time I've been having one way conversations with God. I've been talking and talking and talking, but not taking the time to listen. I think it's very easy to get caught up in other identities when you're not taking in wisdom. My starting places in the bible when I've spent a season out of the Word is typically Hebrews or 1 & 2 Kings. So, I started in Hebrews. I'm going to inextricably tie my identity in the One who never disappoints.

In other news - I started my seedlings. There is new life everywhere. I even took pictures of them, but I'd have to manage to find my cord o share those with you...

That didn't take terribly long

noreply@blogger.com (Tracy) — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 19:13:00 +0000

And now, I'm having an identity crisis. For so long I was 'Stay At Home Mom'. I had playdates, I went to the park, I cooked a TON. Then I had three kids, and something changed. For some reason "THREE" was the magical number of kids that made it nearly impossible to leave the house, or get to other people's houses, or, it seems, still have some kind of life beyond my identity of 'Mom'. So, in short, this had been a hard year for my SAHM self.

Insert part-time job. Insert the assumption that if I did great at part-time, I'd do even better at full-time. And so, I did it. And I rocked it. Seriously. I did amazing. I'd forgotten what a freaking rock-star I could be. How well I could do. And then I got fired.

One day I was doing amazing, all of my feedback was amazing, my employees loved me, my customers loved me, my boss loved me. Then I got sick (maybe bronchitis? or pneumonia? something pretty awful with a fever and horrid cough) and before I could get better I was told "this isn't working". The only clue to why was that my boss didn't think I'd been there enough. Because, somehow, 65 hours isn't enough.

I handled it so well. Gracefully, professionally, showing nothing but praise and understanding for them. But, I'll be honest, I'm angry, and my self-esteem is shattered. I can know that there's nothing more I could've done. I couldn't control whether or not I got sick, I couldn't really work more than I did, especially being sick. And I'm sure it's all a part of God's grand plan, but right now I just feel defeated.

I'm back to working on projects around the house, this week we've gotten chickens, I've moved my garden beds so I can better mow around them, I've dug out and gone through my seeds, I started building a fort for the kids out of pallets, I've been cleaning. But I have no idea what I'm supposed to do next. Do I stay here and wait until John finds a job, do I continue my job search and find... full-time? part-time? work again? I just don't know, and I'm in a rare spot of being terrified. Terrified of being clueless and of not having any clear path or direction in life, because I ALWAYS have clear direction.

I went to Crystal Bridges yesterday with my friend, Michele, and saw a beautiful piece of art that I'll leave you with, it's by Mary McCleary and it's called "The Falcon Cannot Hear the Falconer". And it's a mixed-media mosaic. Those aren't brush strokes. It's amazing in person!

A New Phase in Life

noreply@blogger.com (Tracy) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 03:00:00 +0000

When I got pregnant with Kate I was an assistant manager at a fast food restaurant. I had been desperate to get MANAGEMENT on my resume, and I was willing to work whatever job I could get that would pay me enough and get me there. So, I ended up in fast food. I don't really even eat fast food. I discovered I was pregnant because my first symptom was that I literally thought I was going crazy. It didn't seem that far off for me. I was working 6 scheduled 10 hour shifts a week, plus driving where ever they needed me floating between stores up to an hour away. I worked the opening shift, so I was going to bed at 8 pm to be at work at 4:30 am.

After 6 months of being pregnant and working that schedule I was just about done. Because of the strain on my body (60 hours a week of being on my feet with no real breaks during the day) and the stress of working fast food my doctor advised me to quit for the sake of my pregnancy.

At that time God had already laid on my heart to stay at home with my new baby. I'm glad He spoke so strongly to me, because it made it easier when I just wanted to take things over and make our life happen the way I thought it should. I'm good at working, bordering on workaholic... John is... on island time. The control freak in me would go nuts sitting by and doing nothing while John did things the way he knew how.

It was an incredible time of learning for me. Learning patience, learning that God provides, learning that I can trust John, learning to be a mom, learning to be still, to be alone.

About 9 months ago John asked me to consider working some. Now, he didn't go about this quite the right way and it was NOT well received. I felt like I was failing at staying at home with the kids and John asking me to work felt like him agreeing with me. But after he got his foot out of his mouth he explained that what he'd like was for us to determine what our family wants, what we need, and then go for it. Take everything off of the table and start over with deciding what works for us as a family. What works, what doesn't. Re-evaluate everything.

So then, I decided I could work part-time. John was going to school full-time and had been working part-time while I stayed at home. I offered for him to stay at home with the kids while I took on a part time job, but I put in a ton of safety nets. I told him I needed to be able to come home if it wasn't working for me. I thought getting out more would be good for me (hello! extrovert here!), but I was REALLY attached to my stay at home mom identity.

The perfect job popped up working at this amazing little French inspired bakery/cafe less than 2 miles from me. I was... awkward the first few weeks. I'll be honest, my problem solving skills had taken a dive after hanging out with tiny people all day. I yelled at a co-worker, not just a co-worker, but my boss's brother. So embarrassing, I had to apologize profusely and I still couldn't get over how unprofessional that was. I had to remember what it was like to be out in the real world... apparently there was a learning curve.

It was really ideal. I still FELT like a stay at home mom, but I also got to be around people and try on some old skills that had been totally dormant. Like... thinking. LOL... then we got to a place where we NEEDED my income, which I thought we wouldn't. So, I started thinking about how I could get more money working the same number of hours. So, I started applying to upscale restaurants, planning to do just a few nights a week earning tips and then my normal hours at the cafe. But then, the bakery started doing amazing. They got a huge account and then they asked me to work more. So, I was looking at more hours, which would've made it hard to wait tables also. So, I turned down the extra hours but told them that if they needed to take my hours to give to the new person, that I completely understood because at that point I'd been hired on to work dinners at the high end restaurant I'd been looking for.

The restaurant I'd gotten hired on at told me dinners were fine, and I wouldn't have to work lunches, and that they'd put me on the schedule after the new year. So I finished up with the bakery December 23rd on good terms, and just relaxed with the family through the holidays. Money was tight, but I had a job all lined up, so I wasn't worried. You know, until I called after the new year. And apparently not working lunches wasn't okay, and the whole situation was no null and void.

That's when I figured out that my faith might not have been in God after all, but in my and John's ability to provide for ourselves. I had a huge panic attack, and spent all of that day applying to every job I thought I might stand a chance at. Even looking beyond what I felt like I wanted to do. I figured with John and I both out looking for work something was bound to happen. And it did. Quickly. That was a Wednesday. On Saturday I got called and had a phone interview that went amazing, then on Monday I had a lunch interview to follow up the first one, and by Tuesday I had received an offer to be the general manager at a new cafe opening in Rogers.

After my amazing interview on Saturday I kind of panicked. Was I ready to go back to work full time? Would my family be able to survive without me? Was I capable? Could I really do this? Was this best for the entire family? For my marriage? Was this changing my role because I wasn't trusting in God and responding to crisis mode?

John and I sat down and discussed all of these things, and the more we talked, the more I talked with those closest to me, the more we prayed and were prayed for, the more peace I felt about it. On Sunday night I listened to an audio management book and realized that I could learn what I didn't know. It inspired me to sit down and write out what I wanted to do with the store to present at my interview on Monday, and I really think that instilled the confidence I needed to really do this.

So, I start Wednesday! I'm in charge of hiring 12 people straight off, so if you're local and reading this and know someone good, please let me know :) I love staff development, hiring and training were always my favorite parts of managing. I'm excited for the challenge. I'm excited to work for a Christian who offered me flexibility and the understanding that my family comes first. I'm excited to do something that I know I'm really really good at, even if I haven't used those skills in such a long time. I'm excited to see John get to grow in relationship with the kids as he stays home. I'm excited for God's provision for our family.

Please, if you think of it, pray for our family as we transition. There will be a lot of new things in life, and not all of them will be peachy and perfect, we're going to have to adapt. Thanks for the love and support we've gotten so far in this. :)

... well, this is awkward.

noreply@blogger.com (Tracy) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 20:11:00 +0000

This happens every time I start a blog. Maybe you can relate? I have so much to share, and say, and I look forward to getting feedback about what's going on and then... I stop writing it all down. I stop taking the time to share. And then the gap between posts gets just plain embarrassing. Know the feeling? So, here I am, attempting a blog resurrection! Bear with me ;)

On my reading list right now is "You Can Farm: The Entrepreneur's Guide To Start & Succeed In A Farming Enterprise" by Joel Salatin, "Lasagna Gardening" by Patricia Lanza, "Living With Chickens" by Jay Rossier (with tons of great photos in it) and "Tomorrow's Table: Organic Farming, Genetics, and the Future of Food" by Pamela C. Ronald & Roul W. Adamchak. Now I just need to stop watching mindless movies and sitcoms and actually spend my winter reading!

Here's 2011 in review in terms of homesteading:
I created 5 raised beds, filled 3 of them with dirt and have two more that I'll develop next year.
In my garden I had a great crop of melons, cukes, snow peas and corn, but didn't do well with edemame, tomatoes (heat), and squash (bugs). Also, had TWO $150 water bills over the summer - yikes!
I planted 4 fruit trees (an apple, peach, cherry and plum) - the cherry tree didn't make it though.
I planted 4 seedless blackberry canes, which all survived, and even produced a few berries their first year!
I planted 4 raspberry canes and 4 blueberry plants which all died, but I think they just weren't very healthy to begin with. That's what I get for buying plants at a big box store!
I planted a box hedge that's small, but doing well.
I built a chicken coop, got five chicks total, all of which died by the end of September (insert wah-wah here).
I started a compost pile
I built up a frame for a garden around a tree in the front yard.
I planted roses, rhodedendrons and hydrangeas around the house. 1/2 are still alive... so that's something...

So, lots of successes, and LOTS of failures, but that's the joy of getting to try new things. Failing isn't failing so much as it is an opportunity to learn and try again :)

In 2012 I'm going to:
Get enough dirt for all of my beds
Grow only veggies I really really like
Replant raspberries, blueberries and add strawberries
Plant some attractive edibles in the front yard
Plant bulbs around the front yard trees
Try chickens again!
Replant my cherry tree
Build rain barrels
Start more seeds inside and start it earlier
Build solar panels
Refinish kitchen cabinets

So, that's what you have to look forward to in 2012 if I can keep up with it ;) With my track record, I'll probably bomb about half of those, but I still plan on trying!

Happy New Year ALL!!!

why i've been too busy to blog...

noreply@blogger.com (Tracy) — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 05:48:00 +0000

I've been very busy as of late. I built a chicken coop and pen for my little chicks, who have now become miniature chickens. I built 5 raised beds for my garden and have filled and planted 3 of them. And I've been landscaping and mowing and trying to create some kind of order out of the chaos WITHIN my house. That's probably been my least successful venture... BUT! The children are alive and well, John is fed and happy, so I'll live another day to figure that all out ;)

So, the chicken coop was MUCH more of an endeavor than I imagined. I mean, I though it would be a challenge, but the coop itself wasn't the biggest hassle, it was the pen. In fact, even though my chickens live in the coop and pen, there's still work to be done on it to keep out the millions of things that like to eat chickens. Oh, and P.S. - turns out I hate chicken wire. Ridiculous, like playing with blackberry brambles. Eeesh. I'd say I put 30 hours into the whole thing all said and done, and I'd really like to do more to 'pretty it up', but here it is!

jack pretending to help ;)

i finally figured out how to do the nesting boxes!

i got the outside done and it was a little crooked...

but the inside looked great and i used an extra piece of wood as a perch

the nesting box i'm so proud of

and the inside!

yikes, you can see the crookedness even better with paint, so i'll be adding some trim pieces to hide that! but i really like how the color turned out. a very pale robin's egg blue.

i painted the inside because it was floor and porch paint and i thought it would be easier to clean than plywood.

when working on my projects, my kids run a little wild....

finished and in position!

we had a grand ceremony of putting the chicks in

getting the kids OUT of the chicken pen is the hard part now!

three beds prepped and ready thanks to help from my friends Sally and Grant

then my friend Mel came over and helped me plant and make the pretty, and Jack... well, he played with cups

squash, beans, edamame and corn

lettuce and cukes

the middle bed is peas, corn and some things that i hope are squash that i started as seeds and made the mistake of marking with washable marker.

i planted hydrangeas in front of the rail there, and a rosemary, and prepped a site to plant something where the trellis is.

and i planted rhodedendrons along the north/back side of the house

then i found a beautiful white climbing rose to put up the trellis

and here's a sneak peek at my next project! putting flower beds around the trees so that i don't have to keep mowing over their roots!

Mini Road Trip

noreply@blogger.com (Tracy) — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 01:34:00 +0000

I just have to get my fix in sometimes :)

So, John's Grandpa Jack had his 80th birthday party in Dallas last weekend! We drove down on the scenic route - 540 to Fort Smith and 71 S to Texarkana then 30 W. The drive was beautiful! And so much more interesting than driving the interstate through Oklahoma! It was cold and rainy when we left, and as the rain let up, we drove in fog for a few hours. It was kind of eerie seeing all of the dilapidated rural Arkansas towns and homes on the back highway and bright purple buds all over the red bud trees all shrouded in fog.

As we drove further south I kept seeing wisteria growing. Eventually I became convinced that it grew wild, because there was no way people were planting that much of it in the woods. It was all in bloom and SO beautiful :) Just north of Texarkana we drove through Freedom, AR, home of Tracy Lawrence. We had no idea who that was - I guessed old movie star, John guessed country singer (saying that it's the only thing the south would be that proud of) and sure enough, he was right! Lol, should I know who he is???

We got in JUST in time to drop off kids and head to the restaurant everything was being held at. It was too short, but it was wonderful to see all of John's extended family (who I love and have adopted as my own very nicely!) and hear stories of Grandpa Jack from his friends and family. It was adults only, so Niko was the only 'kid' around (well, besides John's brother, Adam, who is 12?) and he got passed around the whole time. I tell you what, that kid is C-U-T-E! And gets more so every day!

That night in the hotel was a NIGHTMARE! By the time we picked the kids up, they were so hopped up on adrenaline, we couldn't get them to crash. I think we all got to sleep around midnight. But, NOTHING is more frustrating than having two hyper kids playing off of each other in the dark while you're trying to sleep. GAAAAHHHH!! That must be the root of insanity.

The next day John went back with his folks, and I took Kristen, John's sister, with me. We hung out with John's cousin, Jane, and her ADORABLE daughter, Georgia, who was born on Kate's 1st birthday. The two girls professed that they were 'best friends' - SO stinking cute! Jane picked kale out of her garden and made a batch of kale chips (kale sprinkled with olive oil and salt and then baked) for us. They were really good - kind of tasted like popcorn? But with the consistency of paper? Strange, but good, I'll make them sometime :)

After we left, we went downtown in search of good coffee, and came up with just coffee. Then drove to Frisco to go to Ikea. Oh, big shiny Ikea, how I've missed you! We were there WAY too long, and spent WAY too much money, but I got a guest bed/futon/play room couch out of the trip, so I'm super happy! We got out of there later than we'd wanted to, and then I got on a highway going the wrong way for a long time, so it was a LONG trip back in the dark. We got home at 1:30 :P

Since then, I've been assembling Ikea things, hanging shelves, pictures and what not and waiting ever so impatiently for the weather to get good again!!! I tried to go outside to build my chicken coop today, but my fingers went numb pretty quickly and I didn't want to risk operating a circular saw like that... probably a good move ;)

Things I Like To Hug

noreply@blogger.com (Tracy) — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 04:14:00 +0000

Babies and trees. Took me a while to think of what these two things had in common.

Today we went to my friend, Rochelle's house and I got pictures of Jasper, who is 5 weeks older than Niko, and Niko together :) AND I got my mail order trees today. I was so unsure of how they'd look and how healthy they'd be, so I thought I'd post pictures so you could see if maybe YOU wanted to risk mail order trees. I got these from Stark Bros. in MO, I read reviews on a few places first, because I kept reading about some companies sending out dead trees :/ But these looked great! Buds on some of them, and the roots were packed in shredded newspaper to keep damp!

This is to show the box they came in.

It was late when I got home tonight, so I packed them in water in the bag they came in and hid them in the shower so the kids won't mess with them!

Oh, also - I got a new camera!! Enjoy the superior pictures it takes :D

Niko and Jasper

I took this picture as I was driving home tonight. I <3 Arkansas!

Some friends of ours just opened a great coffee shop in Siloam Springs. Today was their grand opening!

Chickens and Children

noreply@blogger.com (Tracy) — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 04:36:00 +0000

So, yes, I got chickens for their eggs, but I also got them for days like today :)

The kids chasing the chickens

Kate being 'mother hen'

Jack: I want THAT one!

Kate: Here, you can have THIS one

There's no escape, chickens, no escape

Kate, please stop poking the chickens

Jack: (insert baby talk here)

This is much more peaceful than most moments

of Jack holding chickens

Three of our four little guys

Jack: Chicken want a hug?

Heeeeere chickie, chickie chickie!

I took Niko out for a little bit, but he wasn't nearly as thrilled with the outdoors ;)

All in all we had a fantastic day! Tomorrow we're inviting some friends over and we'll probably do it all over again. Chasing chickens. Playing in the Sprinkler. Eating fake ice cream.

These are the things they'll remember :D

Ohhh, my back!

noreply@blogger.com (Tracy) — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 04:47:00 +0000

So, today, I got up and just wanted to get SOMETHING done! And, of course, as I hate housework and the weather has turned beautiful - I went outside! I ordered some blocks for our firepit from Lowes.com so that i could take advantage of the 2% cashback at fatwallet.com. Then went and picked that up. I had to make two trips because the blocks weigh 25 lbs each!

I've been considering putting box hedges along our front walk as a barrier between kids playing in the front yard and the road. So, I checked those out at Lowes - $7 each. Yikes. I needed 7 of them, so I called Home Depot and asked how much their were - $2.50 each. Nice :) So, I also got out the whole clan at Home Depot after two trips to Lowes. Then, with fresh, new plants, and a van full of blocks, I set to work!

I dug up a 30' x 32" section of lawn. Which was pretty back breaking! I still haven't bought a wheelbarrow, so I hauled my gigantic city trash can along with me to put all my yard waste in. What do people without compost piles usually do with yard waste? I've been contemplating a compost pile, but I'm afraid it'll be more work and take up more space than it's worth. Thoughts?

Anyways, I dug up the lawn, dug some holes, put down weed barrier and planted my mini-shrubs. It'll be sometime before THESE prevent my children from running headlong into the road ;)

One really nice thing about working outside in the front yard is that I got to talk to all three neighbors on my street at one point in time during today!

After I finished up front, I was EXHAUSTED! But... I had a van full of heavy blocks that needed to be unloaded. So, instead of just piling them up, I figured I'd put them where they belonged! So, I dug out a hole in the back yard, cleared the middle and laid down 48 twenty-five lb. blocks. Yeeeeeesh! Needless to say, I'm good and worn out.

Afterwards I hopped in the shower with Kate to rinse all the dirt off. I didn't realize I'd been exclaiming until Kate started copying me. "mmm. oh, man, that feels so nice." and whatnot. Lol, after that I made a conscious effort to not sigh every time I thought about how in love I was with that hot shower. When John put Kate to bed tonight she was telling him all about all the cool things I'd done and how hard I'd worked, and I could tell she was just beaming. Who says being a mom is a thankless job :)

It felt so good to work outside, but now I think I'm going to go collapse. Again.

Silkies!

noreply@blogger.com (Tracy) — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 06:21:00 +0000

So, cute won out. Today I made a well thought through inpulsive decision. I've been going back and forth about chickens. And really, the only hang up is POOP. But, that hang up won't go away, and I won't know how big of a deal it is unless I try it out! So, I went on craigslist, found the cutest silkies on there and drove 5 hours round trip to go pick up four of them. I know, I'm crazy. Probably $50 in gas to go spend $12 on chickens.

But, these aren't just any chickens, these are silkie chickens. Remember the pictures from a few posts ago? Ridiculously cute, right? Plus, these are considered the best 'pet' chicken breed out there, they're really good with kids and I keep hearing the word 'maternal' used in reference to them. Um, okay. Maternal chickens, that's got to be a good thing, right?

It was such a blah day today anyways. Why not take a long drive into unknown territory? The chickens were in Waldron, AR, about 45 minutes south of Fort Smith. I'd never been any further south in AR than Fort Smith, so it was new to me. And it. was. beautiful. I mean, you know that feeling you get when you're going home after a long absence? It was like that. It reminded me so much of Washington, like, in the rural areas east of Olympia. There were evergreens, which aren't very common in my part of Arkansas, and beautiful fields lined around with beautiful trees, and rolling hills in a broad valley surrounded by the Ouachita 'Mountains' (growing up on the west coast makes it hard for me to actually call anything in the mid-west a mountain...)

Aren't they beautiful? I wish I'd brought my camera so I could show you what I saw, not just what wikipedia was doling out...

So, we pull up to this 200 acre cattle ranch to get the chicks. The wife, Elaine, runs a daycare out of her home and is so good with the kids. In fact, the reason she HAS chickens is so that the kids she watches can see them hatch and play with them. So cute. She kept the chickens in her well house, which had walls lined with home canned foods covered in cobwebs. When Kate saw the chicks, she started grabbing, one at a time, and putting each one in our box. I had to stop her and explain that these were mommy's chickens too, and that I got to pick at least one AND that we weren't taking ALL of them. We had practiced holding baby chicks at Tractor Supply earlier today, so I was faaaaairly certain that neither she, nor Jack, would squeeze the poor little buggers to death.

I let her pick one, and then I tried to get Jack to pick one, but he was too delighted with how they ran in a circle around the inside of the galvanized tub when he waved his hand at them. So Kate grabbed on and told him that was his pick and plopped it in the box. She let me pick my mottled chick out of a pile (okay, maybe not PILE) that had been set aside for someone else when I started going on about how cute they were. The whole ride home, Kate sat with her nose on the edge of the box staring in and jostling them periodically to get them peeping again :)

I like food, naturally.

noreply@blogger.com (Tracy) — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 05:13:00 +0000

This morning I woke up and Kate and Jack had chocolate mouths already. No, just because you eat my girl scout cookies does NOT mean I'll go out and buy more. Besides, that was the box I wanted least anyways, and you only ate half. So there.

We went to church at John's Aunt's church in Springdale. We went last week and I really liked it. But, I think for Kate to go to church at the same place she goes to Mother's Day Out is confusing. First of all, she was really bummed when we pulled up that we weren't going to 'church' because she didn't see the place as a church. And then, she couldn't sit down and be quiet, because it's usually a place to run and play! I'd like to go back, but I think finding a place that's new and hers will help her. Is that weird?

After church we drove to downtown Fayetteville to have lunch at Hammontree's for gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches. I got all three kids out and walked 3 feet to see that they weren't open on Sundays, so I stood there for a while looking around at all the bars on Dickson St. trying to decide which I should take my kids to and then we piled in the van and drove off. I'm a PROBLEM SOLVER! ;) Sooooorely disappointed in not getting my 'Brie's Company' sandwich though.

With nothing else to do we went to the Ozark Natural Food Co-op annual members meeting. I heard they were giving stuff away and had child care. I didn't really need much more incentive than that. We went, Niko is the Moby wrap and the kids in the double wide, and walked around, sampled organic cookies and salsas from local vendors and visited their lovely bathroom several times. Because once Kate finds a bathroom she likes, she seems to need to pee more.

They had live jazz music, a catered lunch, child care and lots of people to fawn over my adorable baby in his adorable wrap. All in all, a good time had by all :)

Afterwards, we went to the co-op and Kate ASKED me to buy broccoli and kale. I'm highly doubtful that they'll actually get in her mouth, but I couldn't pass that up... just in case! Jack fell asleep in the car on the way and went right to bed when we got home. I started nursing Niko and Kate was apparently eating the REST of the girl scout cookies, which I apparently didn't put high enough up. So, she got an early bed time, and I got in TWO movies before bed.

It was a good, full day.

Garden Ramblings

noreply@blogger.com (Tracy) — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 19:47:00 +0000

I went to Atwoods today and they have individual potted strawberry plants with lots of flowers on them for $.99 each! I've been debating on how to plant my strawberries after hearing from a friend long ago that snakes liked to live in their plants. How do you guys keep your plants? I thought about getting one of those 'strawberry pots' with the holes in the side, but can't rationalize spending $25 each for such a little container, and then I looked at the hanging strawberry baskets, but kept reading that the bottom plants die out from lack of water while the top ones thrive. I'm half inclined to go all hillbilly and plant them in our old gutters and fasten the gutters up on our chain link fence. Bad idea?

After Atwoods, I went to Tractor Supply and found GOLDEN RASPBERRIES! I LOVE these, so excited! I forgot to mention in my last gardening role call that I have 2 red raspberry plants, 2 thornless blackberries, and 2 different seedless grape varieties to plant as well.

I've been plugging along on my Mini-Farming book. I'm a little intimidated by the science of good soil, but I'm hoping it's less complex than it seems once you get into it. It's like reading the trouble shooting section of a manual before you have any problems with it. Also, trying to decide if I should try composting at home, or just buying compost. It takes so long to develop and takes up precious yard space, and buying compost is SO CHEAP. Thoughts?

Also, I've been looking for Etsy people who have things I want to trade with and just found one :) She makes homemade jams and marmalades and lives in Tulsa. So we're going to start bartering delicious things like meyer lemon vanilla bean marmalade or blood orange fennel marmalade for coffee. Yay! Plus, I make it to Tulsa once a month or so, so I can just meet up with her and we can both save on shipping :)

Urban Homesteading

noreply@blogger.com (Tracy) — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 20:20:00 +0000

I'm a wee bit of a compulsive researcher. I know, I'm a rare breed. But, once I get my mind on something I can spend hours every day trying to figure out how to get what I want. But this can't actually be manipulated, to say, something my husband wants, because unless I'm interested I get bored out of my mind.

So, my latest endeavor is to use the 1/5 acre lot our house is on to it's fullest advantage. I've ordered two books, one on Homesteading, Mini Farming: Self-Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre and one on gardening, The New Self-Sufficient Gardener. I grew up on 24 acres in the NE corner of Washington State, and being outside and using the resources on the land was just part of our life. We added new planters every year, had an orchard, canned our produce, and built a 2200 square foot house out of the trees grown on our land.

When I was younger we had a couple of sheep and goats, but I really don't know anything about raising them and am not really what one might call an 'animal person'. But I LOVE to be outside and work with my hands, I'm really rather useless indoors ;)

So, back to this year. I've been perusing the Botanical Interests and Baker Creek Seeds websites and have put together an order that may need some serious paring back. $80-100 worth of seed might be a little excessive... Fortunately I've found two other families to split the packets with which will afford me the fruit trees I want to plant :)

I'm also considering Silkie chickens, just two, but still contemplating the cute and egg production to poop ratio. But, come on, they're like big fluffy cotton balls running around on two little chicken feet! And they still produce eggs, and are considered the best 'pet' chicken. When looking at a site where we could order the baby chicks, it actually warned against rubbing the baby chicks on your face. How did they know?! That was my exact intention!

Spring is Almost Here!

noreply@blogger.com (Tracy) — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 10:01:00 +0000

I can attest to that because of the fantastic tree pollen currently disabling me! Yikes, seasonal allergies, calm down! Apparently the Ozarks is one of the worst places in the country for seasonal allergies, and while I managed to avoid having any kind of allergies for most of my years, I've finally succumb and and trying to figure out what this looks like! Okay, tree pollen: check. Medicines I can take while nursing (Claratin and Benadryl): check. Icy cold wet washcloth pressed against my eyes for days: check. Going to bed at 8 am to avoid having my eyes open for three days: check.

Aye-yi-yi! This is no fun folks! Although... I did get to laze about in bed with my baby most of the day, so I'm not going to complain too much about that. :)

I am SO excited for Spring, and am very much looking forward to getting over all of this silliness that my body is inundating me with. I have lilacs, hydrangeas, and a chicago peace rose to plant out front. I have room for and may build up to 6 raised beds on the back side of our yard and I have an ungodly amount of seeds I need to plant. I'm ordering up 12 rhubarb plants and 8 fruit trees to plan just over our fence so that the dead fruit rolls down into the drainage ditch next to our house. I'm not going to let a silly thing like pollen stop me from all of that!

I'm really excited about the Chicago Peace rose I'm planting. I had one growing up at my Dad's house. They are absolutely stunning and remind me so much of him.

Grateful

noreply@blogger.com (Tracy) — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 06:23:00 +0000

Lately I've been feeling very blessed to have such smart, healthy children. I mean, sure, the smart part is a little annoying when they out-smart ME, and when they use my own logic against me, but there's absolutely nothing more amazing than having healthy children.

It's something we tend not to think about. Until something goes wrong. Then, we're down on our knees praying and begging God to make them well again. Hoping that doctors have the wisdom to help our child. But lately, with no disaster or catastrophe to remind me, I'm just so grateful they're well. I'm thankful for all the bullets we've dodged without ever knowing. I'm thankful for running, jumping, climbing children.

Now That's Just Ridiculous...

noreply@blogger.com (Tracy) — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 05:45:00 +0000

... you shouldn't be giving your children coffee.

No, no, you see kids love coffee because it makes mom sane. I'm one of those scatter-brained people. I always have some great idea or adventure that I'm eager to start on. I was in a band in 2004, I moved to the South (which I swore I NEVER would) in 2005, had my first kid, bought my first house and met most of my dearest friends in 2006, moved to the Northwest in 2007, had my second kid in 2008, moved back to Arkansas and started home roasting in 2009, went on a 13 state road trip with my sister-in-law and my two kids and bought my second house in 2010, and here, so far in 2011 I've managed to pop out another child and start planning my homesteading project. Things are never dull for very long if I can help it.

Of course, I also have a bookshelf full of half read books, a half full sink of dishes, a half clean house (the top half), and half a mind to jump in the car with the kiddos and go find some adventure most days.

So, you see, there's just so much to write down! And writing things down instead of trying to remember it all, well, that keeps mommy sane too.