Everyday Life for Four Seasons

I've been:
Getting ready to move, tending the home we are in now as we say good bye to it, and doing the usual in the way of teaching 'A' and 'H' some of what they need to know to grow into responsible adults. French class, reading lessons, and lessons in loading the washing machine have been taking place today.

'A' choked on dinner the other night and it was a l-o-n-g choking episode. At least it seemed that way. Jeff hovered while I called the emergency personnel. By the time I was talking on the phone, she was fine. But still, it seemed like an eternity. Nothing makes your heart beat faster and your head spin harder than watching your child struggle for air. We're glad it's behind us, and are aware that we need a few extra life-saving skills under our belts. Even though we have a good idea of what to do, it's good to have confidence that we can handle what comes our way. Today I'm counting my blessings and keeping my children close. They're alive, and that's all that matters.

I realize I've been away from this space for far too long. I've gone through a multitude of emotions these past few months. Finally I'm coming back to a place of comfort, a place where things seem more normal. It feels good to not feel depressed or angry or anxious. It feels good to feel happy and excited again. I like to look forward to a bright future, and I can finally see one in front of me. When The Noise first started and I realized it wasn't going to stop, I had my first real taste of, "this is an inhumane living environment and I cannot believe people live like this. Not me!" Then I banded together with neighbors and we protested. We made our voice heard. We got the company that was making The Noise to undertake a construction project to muffle it. It's supposed to be done at the end of this month, and most days I think it might work.

In the meantime, we decided to put our far-off dreams into action, and we listed our home for sale. Oh, the wondering that went on! Will it sell? We may love our home (and we do, we just don't love The Noise), but would someone else love it enough to buy it? I cannot say it enough: we love our home. And guess what? Someone else loves it too, enough to buy it. What a relief! Knowing that someone was going to buy our home meant that we were free to look for another home. And look, we did. We saw A LOT of homes. Big, little, expensive, less expensive, well-built, cheaply built. Large lots with acreage, small lots with no room to grow. I fell in love with a farmhouse on a big plot of land but the Universe had other plans and someone else is buying that home. Then, the day after Thanksgiving we went to see a home I had been eyeing for a few while, a beautiful old home in a tiny village close by. Once we stepped inside we knew that it's everything we want and more.

I had my mental list that I would carry with me to each house I saw. The only "must" I had was a sunny spot for a garden. The "would be nice" list was long. A room near the kitchen for my desk, sewing machine, crafting projects, homeschooling table; a guest room; a dining room; and most of all, a sense of character. Our new home will have all of that. Somehow it's all working out...

... we think. With 6 weeks to go until we move, I shouldn't jinx it. I'll just continue to put my positive energy out to the universe and trust that what is right will happen.

Today finds us heading out to look for lost things. 'A's winter coat is waiting for us in the Adirondacks, right where she left it. On the way home we will visit the Hyde Collection, looking for inspiration and inner peace. We'll wander through the museum together, stopping to look at whatever catches our eye. The girls will head downstairs for art class and have a chance to create their own work. When we leave the sun will be setting and when we finally arrive home, I'll be looking for a few extra hours in the day while I make cookies for a few holiday events this week. I have a feeling we'll find everything we're looking for today.


Yesterday I decided to try my hand at homemade, egg-free pasta. I used semolina and white flour mixed with warm water. The recipe did not call for salt, and as a result it didn't have as much flavor as I would have liked. I also see that I would need to invest in a pasta machine if I were to do this again. I hand rolled it and cut the strips, but it was still too thick when it cooked. Overall though I found it easy to make.

Homemade Egg-free Pasta
(adapted from The Complete Book of Pasta and Noodles)

Put in the bowl of a food processor:
1 3/4 cups white flour
3/4 cup semolina flour

Add in a thin stream while the machine is running:
3/4 cup hot water

When the dough starts to become a ball, stop the machine and remove the dough. Knead it on a clean counter for one minute until it is smooth and elastic. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap to keep it from drying out.

To shape, take a small amount from the plastic wrap and roll it with a rolling pin into a long rectangle. Try to roll it as thinly as possible. Using a paring knife or pizza cutter, cut into noodles. Toss the cut noodles in flour until you are ready to cook them.

To cook, place the cut/shaped pasta into a large pot of salted, boiling water, and cook for about 5 minutes.

I have to say, selling our home and finding a new one may have been (and still is, as we haven't closed on either house yet) the most stressful thing we've faced as a family in a while. Now that we can see the home stretch, I'm starting to relax a bit. I'm coming back to center, back to this space, back to my world.

I've been:


:: admiring the brand-spanking-new E-book published by From Scratch Club, filled with do-it-yourself food projects like gluten-free pasta, limoncello, garlic greens, spice mixes, mustard and MORE! You'll find my recipe for homemade lotion in there as well. You can download it here. If you want to print it out, grab this glossy version for print. Go!

:: finding new homeschooling materials online. I love the day-to-day rhythm of our life without worksheets and drill, but deep down I'm an old fashioned girl and I do believe that some things we must learn by drill. Early math, handwriting, and sight words are some of those things (so are compass points, telling time, manners and social interaction skills but those will come). I found two websites that allow me to create math worksheets and handwriting worksheets for free and I like them a lot! The Math Worksheet Site allows you to customize worksheets for your child. Let me point out that I really don't like worksheets. The word makes my skin crawl. BUT I do believe that math worksheets have a place. Basic math is all memorization. Completing worksheets helps store answers to math problems in our memory for years and years.


Handwriting Worksheets are useful for teaching that ancient skill of handwriting. I know, everyone types these days, no one pays attention to handwriting. Even my own handwriting has gone downhill significantly since the dawn of the computer age. I do believe that everyone should have an opportunity to learn good handwriting skills and decide if they like to write and if so, if they like to write legibly. Perhaps my children will decide that they don't want to handwrite anything, but if so at least I gave them the opportunity to decide.


:: making bread, and more bread. I made Liz's sandwich bread today and am looking forward to piling cheese and homemade tomato jam on it for grilled cheese sandwiches tonight. I changed a few things in her recipe - I ran out of oatmeal, so I used bulgur wheat as the hearty grain; and I used one egg instead of 2. So far, so good. It's a good recipe, and I recommend you try it.

:: waiting for us all to come down with colds. I'm exhausted, 'A' looks like someone painted purple eyeshadow around her eyes, and 'H' is whinier than usual. She even melted down when I checked the mail today and found nothing for her in the box. Yup, it's coming. I'll be amazed if it isn't.

I'm back, and I'll see you soon!

I've been preparing for the next step in our family journey. The preparation is half physical, half emotional. We are selling our home, the place where our memories have been born and nurtured for almost six years now. The only home my children have known. The fact that it sold so quickly in this housing market is incredible. Almost as incredible is the fact that we found a home we would like to live in, and if everything goes smoothly, we'll be living there at the end of January.

Our criteria for a new home were steep. We wanted a place with a big sunny spot for a big garden, and a place for chickens and honeybees; closer to Jeff's place of employment, and close to our current social networks. We wanted to find a house we would love to call "home", and that's not easy. I think though that we finally did it. I LOVE the house we are going to buy. I can't wait for you to see it too.

To prepare, I've been learning about tending honeybees and chickens, packing up our belongings, talking with the girls about moving, pushing paper around relating to mortgages, contracts, septic and well inspections, and the like. I've been doing my own mental preparation too. I try to absorb the memories I want to carry forward, and say good-bye to the things in my home that I've taken for granted these past few years. Good-bye to the mightly oak, to the sage and mint plants, to the foxes and the deer. I'll miss my neighbors and my neighborhood, my drive around the lake, my trips to the farm to pick up our vegetables. I'll miss our library and the farm stand down the road.

I'm excited to go, but sad to leave. It's the right step for us at the right time, but it's hard to wade through the emotion sometimes.

You know who is going to look great in this new home? Grace. She has a regal presence, and so does the home. She will fit right in.

Snow here! It's almost unbelievable. We don't have snow this early. I mean, it isn't even Halloween yet. Our first flakes don't usually hit until November or December. Because of the snow, I spent today fielding questions such as, "Are we going to have Christmas soon instead of Halloween?" "Is this winter?" "Will the snow stay for a while so we can play in it everyday?"

No, the snow didn't stay for a while. After the girls made 2 good-sized snowmen it melted. Watching them play in the snow today reminded me of when I was a child living in Maryland. When it snowed the grass would poke through the layer of flakes. We would go out and play, slide down the hill on sleds, and make snowmen. We loved it. What fun we had playing in less than an inch of snow!


I don't mind seeing the snow at all this early. I love tracking the animals that run through our yard. This morning I found evidence of only one - a red fox.


Things here are moving along at a very comfortable pace. We're selling our home and still looking for the right place to live. It's all unfolding just as it should. Overall I believe that the process is taking us where we are supposed to be. Sometimes I panick and get nervous about it. What are we doing? We're leaving our current home so that we can pursue a dream that is still in its infancy. We're uprooting everything we know and trusting that it will all work out. It's scary and at the same time exciting. This is a good thing for our family.

To gear up for the year ahead, when I'll hopefully be a mama to a hive or two of honeybees, I'm taking a beekeeping class held by the Southern Adirondack Beekeepers Association. Now if I could just find a class on raising laying hens, I'll be all set.

The nasturtium may be gone...


...but the oak tree is just coming into its glory! What color!

Today:
Homeschool field trip to see the replica of the Half Moon, Henry Hudson's ship. WOW. The presenter did a fantastic job of telling the kids about the role of explorers and the importance of Henry Hudson in our history. Seeing the galley on the ship made me oh so thankful that I have a kitchen with countertops, appliances and running water.

Exciting news: I'm coming back to the land of the living, emotionally speaking. This morning our house went on the market and at that moment, a weight lifted from me. At this point I can't control very much of what happens with the sale of this home, and I take great comfort in knowing that it's out of my hands now. I'm letting go, and giving it to The Universe. It's time to float for a while and let life take me (and my family) where we are meant to go. What a wonderful feeling.

Every time we walk through the mall (which isn't that often), I ask 'A' and 'H' if they would like to have their ears pierced. They always say no, and I tell them that if they want to pierce their ears, it will be their decision. I'm just here to support them.

Today we were at the mall while my car was on the lift to receive new tires. I asked about the earrings and 'A', to my great surprise, said YES. She wanted to have her ears pierced! Between telling me YES and having her ears actually pierced she did waver a bit and I told her it was her decision to make. She went through with it. I'm proud of her for making the decision when the time was right.

After the earrings were in, she went into what I can only classify as "earring hysteria." Suddenly all of the earrings in the store were new and exciting and she wanted to look at every one. And she brought the excitement home with her, peeking in the mirror at her new look when she got the chance. The big question is, will she sleep tonight? Or will she keep popping out of bed to see the new sparkling gems?

I love my new tires, by the way.

On these days when I don't have the focus, energy or patience to find inspiration within myself, when I can't create my own positive reality, I look to others to give me a boost. Today I found exactly what I needed. Take a look at Liz's hens and Amanda's honeybees. I've got to sharpen my dreams a bit and add hens and bees to my life. More and more I find myself wishing I had them in my own big backyard. Until then, I'll keep reading about others who do.

If only we could all be this relaxed and carefree.

What a day. Today the girls joined their homeschooling friends for art class (they learned about Hawaiian tikis and painted their own tiki). After class, we were supposed to head to the mechanic for new tires for my car. Instead 'A' got sick very quickly. It's something I've seen before and by now I know how it progresses and where it ends. Her seasonal allergies have been acting up and her nose was running today. By lunchtime it was a faucet. Then she started coughing. It's a repetitive, shallow cough. After that comes the wheezing. I administered the ventolin inhaler but it hardly touched her cough. I knew from experience that the cough wouldn't stop until she was given stronger meds. To the allergist we went. They told me that she has "uncontrolled asthma" and that she would benefit from taking inhaled steroids twice a day. She's in bed now and has had her two doses. It's helped quite a bit.

I don't know how I feel about her taking inhaled steroids. I don't like it, but I see how well she does with them. If her cough is left untreated (as it has been the past two autumn and winter seasons), she gets sick and deteriorates. What are we to do?

I have a lot to learn about asthma.

Today:

Woke up (...don't think that's not an accomplishment these days. Remember, I'm still pulling myself out of my depressing summer.)

Yogurt, honey and granola for breakfast.

Dropped 'A' off at an art & French class, took 'H' to the park and the library.

Talked to ducks at the park who have no plans to migrate south for the winter. They didn't actually say it, but by the way they asked us for food they may as well have.

Taught some math: measured, added, divided.

Picked my jaw up off the floor after my 6 year old solved an abstract spatial puzzle much faster than I could have. And she did it like it was no big deal.

Reviewed table manners and the importance of eating neatly (without dripping blueberry jam all over your white shirt).

Enjoyed millet muffins. Mmmmm.....


Allergy shots for 'A' and me; never fun but hopefully worth all the effort.

Drove around town looking for the last of the summer corn. It's mealy now, but my children continue to love it.

Made and froze vegetable stock. I can't wait to add it to some soup this week.


And I changed the look of this site again.

Enough has been done. Time for us all to rest.