Remember, Remember the 5th of November

"Remember, remember the 5th of November, the gun powder treason and plot. I know of no reason why the gun powder treason should ever be forgot" - from 'V for Vendetta.'
It was with a huge sigh of relief that I woke up this morning. We were 110% for Obama and equally afraid of what would happen should McCain get elected. Palin especially scared us. When we went to bed Monday evening I turned to Justin and told him how I was really nervous about the election. We had recently watched 'V for Vendetta' and I was struck by the similarities of it and our current state. We decided if McCain got elected we would shave our heads. A sign that, as terrified as we were of what could/would come to pass under a McCain administration that we would face the future unafraid and more determined than ever to continue living along the path we've been living. I also found it ironic that the day after the election would be (and obviously is) Nov. 5th!
The boys insisted on going with me to vote yesterday. I explained to them who the President is and what he does. To make it understandable for a 4 1/2 year old (and a 2 year old) I told them that the President is like the "daddy" of our country. Shannon helped me cast my ballots while Tristan watched. We all got "I Voted" stickers, and Shannon is still wearing his!
I'm proud my children have gotten to be part of such a historic election. Shannon wanted to go vote again today, and when I told him it was over he asked me "well, what about Obama?" I thought that was really cute. I am proud that we were all able to see the first non-white-male elected as President of the United States. I hope they can one day look back on this and remember it, even if only just a small, fleeting memory.

Recipes!

For those of you who haven't noticed, I've started another blog online dedicated just for recipes. I was inspired when I saw other bloggers doing this, and well, personally speaking, some of the best recipes I've ever found have come via the Internet, and so I thought I would add some of my own out there as well. At all times I will try to give proper documentation as to where the recipe came from if it isn't one of my own personal ones. I also, very much, encourage feed-back on the recipes. This is how good recipes become great! If you scroll down the right-hand side of the blog you will find a direct link, but you may also click here: http://mamataneyskitchen.blogspot.com/ ~ Again, I very much look forward to hearing from you, as I always do on here as well!
Happy Cooking!

Revelations

Sometimes I am hesitant about how personal I want to be on here. While I believe there are some things a family, or just a person, best ought to keep to themselves, I also believe we have utterly lost the knowledge of how to be a thriving a functioning community or village. Locally it rarely exists. Online it is beginning to come back.
October was a really rough month for us, as I am certain it was for most of the country given the current economic troubles. I will begin with I know how blessed we are for the things we have and we are TRULY grateful for them. But, you can be as grateful as you want and that doesn't make times any less tough sometimes. November is shaping up to be the same way, and I am sure with the holidays coming that December will be rough as well. We're luckier than many, and we know that, but it is still rough.
We are eagerly awaiting the results of the election tomorrow. No matter which way it goes it will be historic. We're VERY much supporting Obama & Biden and VERY, VERY much against McCain and Palin. We don't see ourselves as Democrats but more as independent thinkers who look at the pros and cons and make our choices from there, without looking at party tickets so much.
I keep seeing these commercials about Obama wanting to raise taxes and it bothers me since one of his core messages is lowering taxes for those who don't make a lot of money, and pretty much taking away tax cuts for those who do (so they would be back to where they were under Reagan). I see Obama saying what he wants to do and seemingly with a very detailed plan. I haven't seen that from McCain. I have gone to both of their respective websites to research their stances on subjects that matter to me, to hear it in their own words. And based upon that, we are very scared of what is going to happen should McCain get elected. We plan to make a stand should that occur, a definitive stand to continue with greater energy and dedication to they way we've been living our lives and trying to live.
So, what has my revelation of late been? It has been how I've watched the people who have the least to give be the most willing to give. Be the first to help out. We've been very blessed with help from my family in the last week.
The chickens have all recovered from the attack, and seem to have actually bonded nicely because of it (a silver lining) ~ but it was the help from my Mom and Step-Dad that allowed us to get the supplies to fix the tractor to try and help prevent another attack. We were blessed that someone was willing to "share" a deer with us this year; my mom, knowing we couldn't afford it right now gave it to me as a early birthday present. And today, my Dad has offered to give me another early birthday present to help afford the pork I have to pick up this afternoon. (Long story short: we ordered "extra" pork this year because we didn't get any deer last year, and so this year is turning out to be a wonderful example of Murphy's Law). The people we are picking up the pork from have agreed to let us pay what we can now and the rest by the end of the month. We will certainly never cease doing business with them. It is without their help and giudance that we would've even been able to make the leap for organic meat, and it is with their help and understanding that we're able to continue to do so.
My father also saved for us his bags of leaves from his maple tree. It was several VERY full 55 gallon bags. We've used them as bedding in the coop for the biddies and also to give the garden a nice covering. This helps let us put off getting some more straw until we can afford it a little easier. One man's burden is another's treasure at it's finest.
Justin and I have talked about the things I do: baking goods, canning things, and making soaps and shampoos, along with postcards & other things I do with my photography, and I've told him I would like to be set-up enough to be able to sell some of these things at the local Farmer's Market by next Spring. Hopefully that will help us out some as well.
People talk, well commercials talk, about what each candidate represents. I believe in Obama and his sincerity in wanting to help the middle class out. I believe in McCain's desire to keep helping those who really don't need it. Those are things I believe, but here are the things I know: that some of the kindest and most sincere people I've ever met have been members of the middle or lower-middle class. That those without great monetary worth have so much more worth and generosity within and about them. That the amount of money you make doesn't equate to the kindness in your heart. Of course there are exceptions, but in general, this is what I do know.
We, these people, DO work hard. And we appreciate the things we have even more so because of the difficulites it takes in getting them. Because of the physical labor it takes to produce something. Because we know how close we are, as well as those we care about and those like us are to being without and losing everything. I resent the notion that we (those who are liberal or who will vote Democratic, and so on) aren't hard workers. We are. We are the backbone of this country, and it is a strong backbone. And I am grateful for everyone who is part of that with us.

The Chickens

Last Thursday, the 23rd, when Justin came home from work we got to work. He quickly culled our three Speckled Sussexes (it used to be a common table bird in England over 100 years ago, hence why we chose it as our meat bird) and I got to work processing: plucking, taking off feet & necks, and then cleaning out the insides. Jomo was very happy for the fresh chicken necks, but other than that the dogs did a good job of staying away.
Killing the chickens and processing them for food has gotten easier. Now, when I am sitting there hunched over & plucking away in the cold (3 hours total work that night .. my ass was FROZEN!!) I feel a profoundly deep sense of gratitude to the bird for it's gift of life and food. I feel a deep sense of pride in knowing that we can, very literally, grow and raise food to put on the table ~ that we don't have to rely (always) on supermarkets and others to "do the work" and that the food we grow and raise is healthier and tastier by an easy ten-fold than that which we could buy. A wonderful "fuck the man" feeling! ;)
We also moved Easter & Bunny, our two Ameracaunas, into the tractor with the rest of the remaining gals (LadyBird, Ann Bancroft, and the two "Patti"s). Matt was over helping, and together he and Justin moved the birds one by one into the coop, then moved the empty tractor back against the coop, ready for them to come out in the morning. As you can see in the photo above, it frosted that night ~ I took the photo early Friday morning, so that was the reason for "let's do it now".
The transition has gone well. Easter & Bunny have been picked & pecked on, but that will happen until the new pecking order is well established. In the photo you can see LadyBird, our Buff Orpington, and both of the Patti's, our Partridge Cochins, hanging out in the tractor. They weren't letting Easter or Bunny come outside so we put some feed and water inside to give them a better chance.
Sadness struck yesterday though. The biddies were attacked by either a possum or raccoon. It tore through the chicken wire on the tractor and broke into the coop. The little food & water feeders had been dragged outside, and the dogs' heads couldn't have fit through the opening to the coop, so that is how we know the dogs didn't do this.
Shannon and I went out to collect eggs. We saw Easter, Bunny, and both Patti's laying outside, huddling together ~ honestly I thought they were dead. Gentle nudging proved otherwise, but the holes in the chicken wire, the food and water outside, and the amount of feathers on the ground told me they were far from ok. I looked into the coop and found LadyBird and Ann Bancroft huddling together, alive.
Shannon and Tristan luckily went with my step-dad and mom yesterday, and after checking on the birds Justin came home from work to help. We bought Bactine spray for their wounds ~ it is better than ointment as litter and dirt can get stuck in ointment.
Three birds were injured, very thankfully none were killed. LadyBird was injured on her back. Their skin is so thin it is quite easy to tear through it. We poured hydrogen peroxide over the wound, then sprayed it with the Bactine. Ann Bancroft was bleeding on her belly. I cradled her like a newborn while we did the same treatment. Bunny was the one I feared the worst. When looking at her before Justin got home it looked like a hole was ripped in her neck, and the way she was acting was the worst of them all. But upon bringing her inside (we cleaned and cared for each of them in the bathroom) we found her wounds to be the most minor. She got the same treatment, but I really think she is just the one on the very bottom of our pecking order and is the most passive and scared. Unlike "moving night" when both Easter and Bunny pitched a fit about being moved and carried, Bunny let me carry her into and back out of the house without a sound, as did the other birds.
I locked them all up in the coop, gave them some fresh buttermilk and frozen cherries to entice them to eat and then we headed to Lowe's. My mom was sweet enough to give us the money to buy new materials needed to fix the tractor. We bought a hardware cloth with squares 1/2" thick. Justin put a 2x2 beam across the sides in the middle to help keep the dogs from leaning on the wire and causing it to bend in so much. He was able to get 1/2 of one side as well as one end (where the biggest holes were) done last night before it got too dark to work.
He went out this morning before work and checked on them. They are all still alive and were huddled together. He left them locked up in the coop and I will go out in a bit to make sure they have food and let them out. Most attacks happen at night, and though it can be quite loud our house can be rather sound-proof at times and so we don't know what time it occured. I figure the more into the day we can get, the safer the birds will likely be.
The pharmacist yesterday told me that everything seems to like eating chicken, that they're the lowest on the totem pole and it is amazing they have lasted so long. From reading it seems that is pretty on the mark. And even though I wouldn't go so far as to say we consider these birds part of our family, we do care for them. Panic filled me yesterday until we were able to get all three examined and treated, and worry over their health will fill me until they heal. With everything we have had to go through, both physically and emotionally, just to even get to HAVE these birds, we are MOST certainly NOT ready to just let them be picked off by greedy predators.

Confusing Eggs

I was talking to my mom and she recounted something that happened at her house when she had the boys. Apparently she was making them pancakes and had gotten out the eggs. Shannon's head quickly began "spinning around" and he asked her "Grandma, where are your chickens?" She laughed and replied that she didn't have any. Skeptically he asked her "then where do you get your eggs?" She tried explaining to them that she bought them from Kroger, that when people don't raise their own chickens they go to the store to buy eggs, as opposed to the backyard to collect them. Apparently Shannon (who is 4 1/2) doesn't remember a time when we bought eggs. Even before our chickens we most always got our eggs from friends who had chickens.
Then there is the other end of the spectrum. Yesterday was a big day around here as the rest of our Speckled Sussexes "found a new home," all the remaining birds were moved back to the coop (as was the tractor) since it is getting down to freezing temperatures at night, and the Ameracaunas were added into the existing flock.
I had gone out earlier in the day to look for eggs, and there were none. We're usually getting about one a day, but some days there aren't any at all. Justin noticed there was one later though when he was messing around out there. He took it out and set it one of the potted plants that we have on the deck.
When I went inside with the processed chickens I had forgotten all about the egg. Matt, Justin's brother, had come over to help Justin and brought it to me. I asked him if it was dirty or not, and he told me he didn't know what I meant or was really talking about. So, I looked at it, saw it was perfectly clean and told him to just please put in the fridge.
Later that evening, after Matt had left, and as Justin and I were basically getting ready for bed I went into the fridge for something. There, sitting by itself on a shelf alongside jars of condiments was that silly egg. Justin and I each got a good laugh out of this, as the egg carton is fairly visible in the fridge and even the kids know to put eggs into the egg carton!
It just goes to show you how we can live so close (as my mother and Matt each live less than a mile from us) and yet so vastly in different worlds. It is wonderful to see my children be confused by the notion that eggs can come from stores. Tristan (who turned 2 in August) often has to be told if something is bread as the only bread we really have here is bread I bake, made of whole wheat. He just doesn't recognize bleached white bread products bought from stores. This always tickles me too. It is wonderful to see how quickly things can be turned around, how we're always just one generation away from an entirely new way of thinking and of looking at things. Now that is amazing!

Ramblings and Ana Pascal

There are several things I could write about right now. The first would be how many times you hit the keys "g," "h," and "j" in regular typing. I only note this because these keys are currently NOT on my keyboard thanks to the curiousity that arises out of two young boys the moment Mommy leaves the room (and, no, they aren't just snapping back on ... I'm luckily able to hit the little "buttons" that are under them to get the letters to work).
I could write about the moving of the new biddies (our Ameracaunas) into the larger tractor. This we did Saturday night, with Justin and his brother Matt lifting the tractor and me sliding the Ameracaunas (cage & all) into the tractor, while also trying to pull Jomo back OUT of the tractor. I am quite certain that his only motivation for continually running into the raised up tractor was to insure that none of the older birds (who were mostly asleep) ran out. That or he was trying for a freshest of fresh snack of spilled chicken feed and chicken poop.
But, no, what is going through my head right now is Ana Pascal. She is a character from the movie Stranger than Fiction, and I love her. I love her character and why she is who she is. I love the relationship she develops with Harold Crick. Here is a link to a beautiful moment in the film: http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1291950080/ch0008721 -- Harold is trying to give her flowers ... but rather than just give her a bouquet of flowers, he brings her a box of flours, as she is a baker. Ana has this wonderful line in the movie, explaining why she left Harvard Law School: "I just figured that if I was going to make the world a better place, I would do it with cookies." (pardon any misquoting there .. I think that quote is dead-on accurate, but am not able to verify at this precise moment).
I love that sentiment. I love baking, I love the thought of baking. The true comfort in it. When I crave chocolate it is not a candy bar that I crave but something freshly baked and still warm. Until I worked in a bakery I never knew the utter decadence of a pile of warm, yellow cake tops. We trimmed the tops off for a flat work surface, and would pile them up in huge piles: a pile of chocolate, one of yellow, one of marble, one of white almond, and on special days, one of red velvet. Warm cake, no icing, just the warmth from the oven in that moist texture .. I gained several pounds working there but when I look back they are some of the pounds I was happiest to gain and some of my favorite pounds ever.
I love being in the kitchen when the air is cool. I love the feel of natural materials (which my kitchen needs more of) surrounding me: brick flooring and old brick walls, antique wooden working surfaces. And then there is the delight of the way that modern, utilitarian stainless steel blends in so well.
If you haven't seen the movie, I would highly recommend it. It is a wonderful story, perhaps that is what makes it such a delight. It is well acted, the characters are believable, the plot line isn't too mushy, though there are so many scenes I can't get through without the inevitable shedding of tears. But I love the narration that takes place, for it is truly like a good book, and being read to in such a captivating manner is something that is getting rarer and rarer these days.

Rain Barrel Opinions & Thoughts

We have some fantastic plastic barrels for collecting rainwater in the back yard, but want something a little more asthetically pleasing for the front yard (especially with sweet VL ready to explode any second). So, am looking for opinions here as I've found two different barrels that each have their own pros & cons.
First, a recycled whiskey barrel from http://www.kentuckybarrels.com/RainBarrels.html - here is a photo: I'm loving this one for several reasons: 1st - it is recycled! Wine & Whiskey barrels can only be used for so long before there is the need to find new homes for them. We have two already (not rain barrels), one that we in our kitchen as a chopping block and one we have in our front room with a pretty little lamp on top! :P So, back to why I like this - where we live there are a lot of wineries and we're not very far from the Moonshine Capital of the World ~ so it feels like supporting heritage, if that makes any sense. Plus, it has a wonderful cottage style to it and is made of natural materials. They do need some maintenance to keep them looking nice, especially with the rings, because they can begin to slip off if/when the wood dries out.
Ok, second choice. This one I found thanks to the wonderful site Groovy Green and their latest post: http://www.groovygreen.com/groove/?p=3419 & the rain barrel they got from Garden Supermart: http://www.gardensupermart.com/store/rain-barrels.php


Beautiful terra cotta look to it, but it IS made of plastic. Cool thing: there is a spot on top for planting plants. It is truly beautiful, but I'm not so sure it fits in with the style here. Plus, apparently this one might need to be brought in during the winter to prevent the plastic from freezing.
So what do you think? I realize this is just a personal choice when it boils down to it, but I am curious to hear what you have to say. Do you have rain barrels? How important do you consider the need for rain barrels? How many rain barrels do you see where you live?
Around here, not many. Isn't that a shame? Wouldn't it be nice to see government buildings with rain barrels outside, dripper hoses attatched to them, gently watering all those beautiful plants on dry summer days? All these homes with glorious plantings and landscaping, using collected rain water to give those thirsty plants a drink? And, to finish up with my grumble about Lowe's & Home Depot designed yards ~ where are the rain barrels there??
Why are my two glorious choices limited to two?? Shouldn't this be a booming market, with choices abounding? If green-washing really is so abundant and rampant, where are the rain barrels?
Your thoughts?

PS ~ I did have a glorious moment the other day, where it was drizzling and I was able to fill up the chickens' waterer with water that was coming out of the down-spout. I didn't mind getting wet, standing there in the rain, instead I felt envious of the tasty and beautiful water they were about to drink. If you're going to drink bottled water, how glorious would it be to drink it from a bottled that had been filled with captured rain water?