Welcome June!

A photo of our first true harvest of the year. 2lbs 5oz of shiny, freshly picked tart cherries. We went out early this morning to gather them before the temperature began to climb to high. Tristan has a skinned knee (which necessitates being carried as much as possible and dramatically hobbling when forced to walk) from a riding tumble so he sat on the bench, an old church pew, and watched as Shannon and I worked our way around the 6 1/2' tall tree. We picked one ... yes one, single, little strawberry this year. Our black-eyed susans have spread like crazy and choked them out. So, this is our first real harvest.

June is here. I don't know where you live but, as much as I love the Summer Solstice, it does NOT mark the beginning of Summer for me. Not when we have several days of temperatures in the 90's. Nope. Summer began a while back. Whenever it got hot enough for me to crave a pool. Which, amazingly enough, we got this year. Every year we've had some form of kiddie pool and this year is only a slight exception. We've been able to move out of the driveway and into the backyard where there now sits a 15' round above ground pool. Justin's parents had an extra one and so, viola, now we have a pool. Sure, I can sit on the bottom and the water comes up to my chin but, ya know what?? I don't care!!! Because it is nice and cool!! It's a friggin' tropical paradise in my mind! I would seriously spend the majority of my time there lately if I could. Of course, once Tristan decides he routinely likes getting in the pool that'll just make the experience even better. Right now it's a battle that involves lots of tears and screaming and forcing him into a swimsuit, then sometimes literally plopping him down in the pool. He cries for a minute or so then remembers that he really LOVES playing in the pool and happily does so for a couple of hours.

The chickens aren't too thrilled about this heat though I am sure they're at least happy that we decided (wisely it seems given the heat) that after last year's HOT HOT Summer they needed more shade and so their 'winter chalet' has become their permanent home. Plus, the tractor needs rebuilding and I don't think it would've survived being hauled around the yard much longer.
But since they still aren't so happy about the heat they aren't laying quite as productively as they had been. We've had a couple of no-egg days. Though, when I went out to gather yesterday's eggs this morning (yea, I forgot yesterday, it happens) I found Patti nesting on the floor of the coop. I leaned in there and forced her off. She was sitting on 3 eggs. I am hoping they are not that old. I don't think they are, and I know they're fine outside the fridge for quite a while on their own anyways.
So .. it's Tally Time!!

May Egg Tally: 79 eggs (only three less than in April)
Year To Date Egg Tally: 349

Still pretty sweet!!

Also going on around here ... hmm, let's see. Shannon is in the process of doing his first year of end of the year testing required for homeschooling. Justin is the one handling this as I have a lot of issues with the whole thing. Plus, it allows him to have some more direct involvement with their schooling and that is good.
Tristan just finished up Story Time at the local library for the year and this Summer we'll be sending in his first NOI for kindergarten.
We've finally got a logo for our brewery, which is pretty sweet. If you want, take a second and go check it out http://soulonebrewery.blogspot.com. We've even been able to get some merchandise for it already which is really cool. I'll post the photos of that stuff on that blog as soon as I can.
You may have noticed the profile photo change on here. Finally a photo of me with dreads!! My dreads are already 6 months old now. Yes, people with dreads talk about "how old their dreads are." Dreads are an on-going thing. They change as they age. It's cool. Except in Summer, when your dreads reach down the middle of your back. Then it's pretty darn hot. High ponytails have become a staple for me. But, again, here is where dreads can be fun. You can wrap up a pretty massive bun if you've got the length for it (I do!). You can tie your hair up in an updo using one or two of your dreads ~ try that with a pencil!! I have been known to wear mine up in high pigtails using only the dreads themselves to secure them. Plus there are wraps and bandanas and etc to wrap them up with. That's always really fun.
And, finally, a reason why I haven't been posting on here as much. I've taken on more work with the Main Street Newspapers. I now do at least a feature a week for The Vinton Messenger and the Cave Spring Connection papers. I also do here & there stuff for The Salem Times Register. ALSO - I'm now doing a lot of online stuff for them. You can check them out at http://www.ourvalley.org
It's really, really cool and something I love doing. I finally am getting paid to write. Very cool. However, it is also a huge adjustment period for me. Being able to work from home means I can work whenever, but it also means I need to learn to decided when exactly that whenever might be, and (very importantly) when it isn't.
So, to try and implement this, this morning here is what I've done: picked cherries, weighed cherries, gotten sourdough bread going, fed the sourdough starter, fed the kefir, got the dishes going, fed dogs, gathered eggs, done the tallies, BLOGGED!, sent kids to their rooms for fighting, and then let them play outside once they've decided their done fighting. No, I haven't gotten my shower yet (be glad you can't smell me through the computer I suppose), but I'll get to that shortly. And I've only checked work email through the phone, where I haven't replied, just looked at one email. :)

And there is the beginning of our Summer here. How is your's going?

Remodeling - the work begins!!

After a couple delays, the work on the house finally started on May 6th. May 5th they brought stuff over & May 6th they got to work. That day they took the chimney down off the roof. Friday he started working on taking down the chimney inside the house.


~Before the chimney came down. You can see sheets covering surfaces from the soon-to-come, massive invasion of dust.~




~ I got the first swing with the sledgehammer. This was always something I've wanted to do and given Jomo's death & an asshole comparing us to Micheal Vick because we put Jomo down, the sledgehammer proved VERY therapeutic!~


~The chimney is 1/2 way down now. David Harmon has a guy named Josh working for him. I absolutely adore Josh and think he is a fantastic worker!! Watching him take the bricks apart was interesting. He didn't need anything other than his hands, as the mortar was that old and crumbly.~


~Here Josh is showing me how clogged the chimney was. The chimney has been used to vent gasses from the boiler heater. We had thought there was a metal flue inside, there wasn't. Where Josh is showing with his hands is where it is clogged up from him taking it down. Everything below his hands is STILL clogged up (and the chimney goes all the way down to the basement) and WAS clogged up before he got started. It is scary to think the gasses have had to try and go around all that crap. I will be very happy when they install a new metal flue~

~The chimney is down! This is before Josh cleaned up, which he did a FANTASTIC job of!! Major points there!~

~Sorry for the cellphone photo. Here the chimney is down, the old wall is down, and the bottom 1/2 has new drywall up. This photo was taken May 10th. We've been delayed on finishing the drywall due to rain.~

Along with the work in the kitchen they've also started on the old back bathroom that we were using as a pantry. Everything bathroom related has come out, including the flooring we had put in. We're waiting for our fabulous plumber to come by this evening so that the washer & dryer can be moved into the new "laundry room." Yesterday Josh cut the doorway to a much larger size so that all would fit through there. Photos will come soon, I promise.

So -- what are my thoughts about all this renovation?? How are we liking it so far?? In no particular order, here are my thoughts:

1) "Contractor Time." It has been difficult for me to get used to this. I am usually a very big stickler for times and schedules. Contractors are known for running on time schedules of their own, so I can't really take points off of Harmon for doing so as well, any contractor would likely be the same. But it is still something I'm having a little trouble with just because that's me.
Also, some days work begins around 9am and then they're done for the day by 2pm-ish. This is something that is odd to me, just because we're used to typical work day hours. Again, perhaps that is just the way things are, I don't know. I'm trying to just focus on being happy about work being done.

2) Cleaning up & stuff like that has really gained them points. They've been wonderful about that. They're really great about trying to stay out of our way - not that we had an issue about that, it's more something their trying to be really conscientious of & we appreciate that.

3) The Workers. Harmon has had a couple different guys in here so far and we've liked them all. Josh is who has been here the most and we've been REALLY pleased by him.

4) The Work. Well, so far, everything is been in a taking down & taking out stage. That makes it kinda hard to rave (or complain) about the work. They've done a great job taking things out, haven't caused more damage or anything like that, so I would say that so far, we're happy with it all.

All in all, it's a positive experience so far. I wasn't happy about the delays, but there was nothing I could do about it either & we're trying to be understanding that things happen. We aren't the only people out there in this world. The weird work hours are something else we're trying to get used to. But it could be a lot worse, and we know that, so we're happy with everything so far.

A follow-up thought: I forgot to mention that a lot of the woodwork is being done off site. The wooden tongue & groove ceiling has been stained at his shop, saving us the hassle of the fumes and probably working better for them as well. Same with the wooden cabinets. This might (and likely does - at least hopefully does) account for "afternoons off." It is hard to remember that they could be working very hard on our stuff but that we just might not be seeing it. Since everything else so far has been positive, I'm going to go with this on this one too.

2 1/2 Years of Blogging ...

~The Blue Nymph, and it's current inhabitants, braving the snow and cold this winter with a smile~

I started blogging here on July 20, 2007. It's now almost 2 1/2 years later. When I started this blog it was with the intention to try and document our journey. And this morning I find myself feeling a little reflective. Perhaps it is the biting cold outside, though I must admit today is warmer than yesterday and that I like the cold anyways.
We call our home "The Blue Nymph." It was built in 1890 and has it's own definite and unique personality - we decided it needed a name, so we named it.
In the two years plus that I have been blogging, the house has seen some changes. We've added a fence out front, as well as a proper picket fence around the main garden in the back yard. We've added a brick patio at the base of the deck, a small outdoor pond, rain barrels, more garden beds, more trees, and of course the chickens. We've made changes indoors as well, the most major was the addition of lots of insulation and a new boiler heater.
The house still likes to fight back though. The big bathroom seems to refuse to warm up this winter, as does the sunroom. The latter seems to show the house's true sense of humor and irony.
We're currently waiting on a contractor (nothing new there I suppose) to come look at what we fear is a leak around a chimney. It's a completely internal chimney, not attached to any outside walls, and since we haven't had a leak there before (not since we've been here anyway), we're assuming the recent snow and ice is to blame. We shall see. We are anxious though. This will prove interesting.
But that is part of the journey. Part of owning a home. Part of having an older home especially.

When I started this blog, Shannon was 3 1/2 and Tristan was not yet 1. Now Shannon will be 6 in a week and Tristan is 3 1/2. We've officially begun our homeschooling journey.
Right now we're unschoolers. Most days it feels as if we're "no-schoolers" as it can be hard to readily identify knowledge being learned. But we, they, are learning everyday. Right now I would be completely lying if I didn't fess up to the fact that they're NOT learning that Mommy is getting ready to whip their butts if they don't quit fighting.

............ I typed the above an hour and a half ago and with one massive blow-up/meltdown (a Mommy thing) from me later, and the kids have been fed lunch and are now down for naps. I've eaten my lunch and read my comics. So let's try this again. I thought about deleting the above, but for now, I'll leave it in.

In the last 2 1/2 years here are some of the things that've occurred:
*We made both small and gigantic steps in urban homesteading. It is a new world in front of us. Not everything was a success, there have been many failures, but we've learned from every bit of it & are eager for the future.
*We've realized that while you can work with all your might to weave a closer-knit community, you can't please everyone. Some people will down-right hate you, for no good reason. My personal line here is that if you're going to hate me over flowers, then go ahead because I just can't reason with you.
*We've had to tell our children that people aren't always nice and that the world isn't always friendly. Even typing that brings tears to my eyes, a child's innocence should never have to be shattered.
*We've realized that the world has changed, and our street, in it's mere design, is not a neighborhood. But that having a close-knit community doesn't require that we all live within a block or two of each other, and that the web is a wonderful tool in developing a good community.
*We've learned we very easily can produce a significant amount of food on this land, and that we haven't even hit the tip of the iceberg yet. And it feels really good.
*We've stood our ground, known our rights, and felt how strong we can be and are.

Some things we've learned:
*I've learned I cuss, a lot. That wasn't anything terribly new, but I'm more aware of it now. As much as I adore house-dresses of the 40's, I am not a delicate housewife. I am one tough mother, and that isn't always a bad thing.
*That just because you want a blueberry bush to grow "here" doesn't mean that it will. It might grow if you move it 5' to the left though, even if that isn't where you wanted a blueberry bush.
*That keeping the heat turned down low has to have it's limits. We killed a guinea pig (we think) this way. The house is now set at 66 degrees. Some rooms feel warm, some feel cold, and that can sometimes depend on the time of day or not.
*The importance of truly dressing for the seasons. Why Southerners move slowly - in the Summer it is hot, not running about keeps you cooler. On that note, we've learned that everyone crammed into the dining room for cake & ice cream in the middle of August is a guarantee for an instant sauna.
*That even though you're not "in school" you're still learning. Sitting in an English class isn't the only way to learn English.
*That each kid really does have their own time-table for learning.
*That child-led learning still requires guidance from parents and that, like most things, isn't as smooth or as easy a process as we may have hoped.
*Being broke inspires creativity. Actually, it doesn't inspire it so much as it requires and demands it, but saying it inspires it makes me feel like I have a choice in the matter.
*That we do things as a family. "Everyone helps" is our motto.
*That you CAN make most things you need, and you will save a lot of money.
*That you have to unlearn things if you do that one above. Our laundry isn't scented, and I will admit that, at times, I miss the scent of fabric softeners, even though I know how gross the commercial ones are and won't use them.
*Vinegar + Water = a very efficient multi-cleaning spray. The smell of vinegar goes away quickly. Use old cloths for wiping, and silently curse fuzzies from those cloths - wiping till all is dry and they too fall away.

It's both difficult and amazingly easy to live on an urban homestead. The things we do and grow we had to learn how to do. The saying that a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step is true.
For me the hard part is remembering that we live in town, in the heart of our little city, and how to handle that. That, as much as I may want a cow or goats or sheep, I can not have them. The houses are close together around here, and I don't think there is one that can't see into our windows at some point of the day. It's a constant scrutiny, something that comes as part of the deal when you live in a small town or city. Being different makes you stand out, for the good and for the worse. You can't just decide you're going to live a certain way, as much as I try to. It isn't the late 1800's, I don't have 500 acres, I can't send the boys out to chop down firewood.

And, most importantly, given how long it has taken me to write this post is that I'm constantly reminded that things don't always work or flow the way I/we want them to. I woke up feeling reflective and ready to write. But I hadn't checked email since noon yesterday, so there was a lot of work there. And then there were dirty bathroom mirrors and surfaces needing cleaning. And laundry needing folding. And phones that rang and little boys that needed time-outs.
So I've learned to take my moments of Zen when and where I can get them. Hanging laundry outside, something I must fess to not nearly doing often enough; the sips of warm tea and the feel of the warmth from the mug in my hands; quiet dogs lying under foot; kids who still like to cuddle in bed with you and watch cartoons; the warmth of my husband beside me, and the way the scent of him lingers on his pillow after he's gotten up in the morning.
That is where our last 2 1/2 years have gone. We look forward to where the next 2 1/2 years will take us.
We're grateful for those who read this blog and enjoy it, even more grateful for those who leave comments and let us know you're out there. You're part of our community, part of our lives, and part of this journey, and we thank you for it all. Namaste.