thoughts

Since I don't have any recent photos to post I thought I'd post an old one. This picture is NOT from a tornado. It was a straight line wind the strength of a tornado. It ripped through our neighborhood and left us without power for eight days. This was an enormous tree, pulled out by it's roots. The neighbors on both sides of us lost trees tall trees. Two of our apple trees got pulled out by the roots. All seven kids were home and, boy, did we learn about simple living. I spent most of my time washing clothes in a bucket and hanging them out to dry on clothes lines stringing the back yard. It was a real family bonding experience. That was in the summer, a few months later, in the winter it all happened again and we were without power for a week in the winter. Everyone agreed losing power in the winter is much more live-able. We just kept putting on more sweaters and blankets. In the summer when it got to 102 there just isn't much you can do about it.

musings

I need to take some more pictures. I know these posts are a lot more interesting with pictures.

I started this whole blog to explore simple living. I love finding ways to do things myself. I've always been like that. After keeping this blog for a few years now I can't really say I've gotten that much further down the "simple living" road. My husband has spent the last year as a college student and we have been living off of our savings (and some money generously given us by my recently passes away grandfather). I look at the totals of what we have lived on for the past year and I can't really say it was that impressively frugal. We obviously still need a good amount of money to live on even when we're living "simply." So is the simple living experiment valid? My family isn't willing to live without cell phones and the internet. But there are a lot of ways we can (and have) geared down. We cook most of our meals, we garden, we sew/knit a fair amount, we make our own soap, we homeschool. I guess this blog should've been labeled "simpler living" instead of "simple living."

it got colder

What did I say about the weather moderating? It just got colder! With the wind chill it was well below zero and my poor chickens were already getting frost bite. And, yes, I did bring the chickens in the house. They are currently down stairs in a big closet wondering what they did to deserve being locked up in prison. From the weather report I ought to be able to free them tomorrow (or maybe even later today). I hate having them in the house (they aren't exactly house-trained) and I hate leaving them outside in this weather.

it's cold

We're in the middle of a cold snap. It got down to 2. I'd bring the chickens in the house but we're up to the gills with DS#2's stuff. He's in the process of moving and all his stuff is downstairs right where I'd put the chickens, if I had any room. My poor chickens. They just huddle out in the cold near the house in a corner that is out of the wind. They look so miserable. DS#2 is getting a U-haul and moving the stuff on Thursday, but I think the cold snap will break by then. Don't get me wrong I LOVE having him here. It has been such a treat to have all the kids home (and to get to meet DD#1's boyfriend) but they are all trickling back to their college/jobs/assignements. So not only are their sunny faces leaving they're leaving me during the coldest time of the year. How many months until spring?

wonky cake

Didn't this turn out cute?