video footage.

Tour of the ship

Morning at Muddy Acres

Beans and Sweetbread.

Beans and Cornbread - Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five

An old favorite!

I'mma try to get Jacob and Slugg to learn this on the mandolin and guitar and let me sing it with them out one night. :) They killed it at the Midtown Cafe tonight, while Philip and I knocked down a couple plates of buttered up rolls and drew pictures together.

I went to the doctor yesterday and had her check out my old flu-feeling lungs. Been heavy-chested for two weeks. She concluded it was a little asthma, probably caused by the wood stoves.

Reason #212 to build a rocket stove.
They have almost no exhaust, and certainly no ash buildup, no dust in the house. Wood stoves accumulate an impressive layer of dust in no time flat - you'd be surprised!

Also asked the doc:

"How can I gain weight? I keep losing and I'm too skinny, and my pants don't fit, I miss my ass, and it's WINTER for Pete's sake. I need some insulation."

Doc: "What are you eating?"

"Beans and homemade sweetbread. And eggs. In mass quantities when I can. Because I want to gain weight!! But I just poop alot."



She said it was normal -

Beans = Fiber. Which makes poop.
And Protein. Which creates weight gain.

So I'm just a-trekking on. More beans, more sweetbread. More eggs. Mmm-mmm!

 

"A day you don't die is a successful day."

- Said me, to Jacob today.
After I joined efforts with the ice to nearly kill us in my truck at high noon.


I'll be damned if we ain't still standing!

We are blessed beyond belief.

It's a beautiful life and we are grateful to be in it.

a poem for jessamine.

in response to the poem she gave to me.

through the silence under snow
the only thing that speaks
is ice a-cracking, steady, low
"be." "be." "be."

say "yes" to now and rest a while
a heart at peace, like kitties sleeps
enveloped in a knowing smile
"be." "be." "be."

for yesterday is gone away
tomorrow we will surely see
it's only now we've ever had
"be." "be." "be."

Eggs Warm from the Hen

Warm Fresh Eggs and Cat Prints in Snow - Two of My Favorite Things

Too bad our hens aren't broody and it's so darn cold right now. I would love a new layer around here.


Sunday we got FOUR eggs! Temperatures have been crazily fluctuating around here. Super cold, then super warm (yesterday it was almost 60 degrees!)
Most days it's only two...
About time to get some guineas.

Kitty Litter Alternative - Cheap, Healthy!

Show a kitty you care! Stop buying kitty litter. 

As the happy kitty mommy of 3, I stopped buying kitty litter a year ago. 

Happy Kitty Toity

Kitty litter is a marketing ploy, and is downright unnecessary. 
Expensive. 
Tracks all over the house. 
The clumping clay kind adds potential for infection, with fragrances entering kitties' delicate urinary tracts, and the clay providing potential compacting in kitties' downstairs systems.

No thanks! 
We don't need that.

We just need to stop throwing away newspaper. 



We get junk mail all the time, and in Lexington, there is Skirt! magazine (a monthly publication printed on newspaper) which is left over in the tens of pounds at the end of each month, in bins all over downtown. I simply save these papers, run some through the $3 paper shredder I got at Salvation Army, and lay down 4 layers of newspaper in the bottom of a clean litter pan. 
Add a small handful of shredded paper and you and kitty are good to go!

For free (save the cost of the paper shredder and its electricity). You can also use scissors, if you don't have a paper shredder or electricity.

Out here on the farm, the used newspaper goes either into the compost pile or on the fire, if the fire is going well and the paper isn't too wet. Believe it or not the smell of burning poo is nothing like the smell of poo, and quite unoffensive as well as temporary.

I clean out the litterbox once or twice a day. If this seems like too much for you, you may want to reconsider your dedication to your pets. They deserve a clean space to eliminate their waste, and you as their caretaker have a responsibility to provide them that space. It takes no more than 5 minutes each time, maximum. 

Show a kitty you care! Stop buying kitty litter. 

Exercising the Gratitude Muscle.

An attitude of gratitude is the winning attitude, I hear.

I believe it's so.

Be grateful to the universe for what you have. Trust in the universe to give you what you need.



Today I am grateful for:

• My slightly sunburned face. The heat radiating off of Vitamin D-fulfilled cheeks.
• The gorgeous, warm winter Sunday that generated the Sunburn.
• The community so graciously, freely extended to me so soon after meeting the new friends I have made at CrossPoint church.
• Feeling comfortable at this point in my life going to church.
• CrossPoint, the church I found in smalltown, Kentucky, which is the most open.minded, love.oriented church I have ever freaking heard of. Every time I go I cry tears of joy. I am so moved and feel so connected, I can't stop leaking eyejuice!
• Ice cream in a cone. Chocolate chunks and sugar rushes.
• Five dollars to put gas in my tank.
• A happy feeling I can spread to others, on a sunny Sunday, full of the spirit of love, post.church.service.
• Friends who come to help build the Tiny House.
• Bean soup and my increasingly awesome cooking abilities.
• Massive amounts of donated fresh organic produce, and the mounds of canned pears and kimchi and cucumber mango broccoli salads that will result.
• Mike and his willingness to take me target practicing.
• Improving my aim with a gun.
• Having all 3 kitties in the house and safe and warm and happy with me at night, while the coyotes howl outside.
• Elvis and TK curling up together and cuddling and kissing like the cutest fluffiest sweetest little loveballz they are.
• Every star in the sky. Being able to see them all from here.
• Being small. 
• Jessamine. Her tender friendship and sweet, funny, quirky intelligence. Love her.
• Wood for the fire. Warm tea.
• A kitty on my lap.
• Exposure for the Time Bank. Momentum building and so much potential for unifying my community.
• Warm clothes and layers and good snow boots.
• Soap.
• Sharp axes. Splitting logs - it is so fun! And what a reward - being warm twice! Once outside using my human body for good, and once in, relaxing and enjoying nature's awesome gift of fire.
• Spaceheaters.
• New friends.
• My favorite sound in the world: a kitty purr.
• Making meals with new friends. Enjoying freaking delicious, fantastic meals with friends.
• Peanut butter. Parmesan cheese. Crockpots. Bean soup that *damn!* is so good yet so simple. Did I mention I make good bean soup?
• Igniting passion in others.
• Thesurvivalsummit.com and the week-long free survival seminar starting tomorrow morning.
• Skillsharing.
• Love.

But the greatest of these is love.

Recipe time.

the making of the perfect handcream...

perfect handcream recipe.
________________

1 cast iron skillet, rinsed of mouse poop with tea tree to kill germs
1 big happy dollop of lard from the amish
3 eggs from happy hens out back, freshly gathered


wash hands with homemade handsoap - castille soap, apple cider vinegar and water, plus your favorite essential oil.

with fresh clean hands, scoop dollop of lard into pan

rub hands together. 

enjoy the fantastic ability of lard to form a moisture barrier between your skin and the atmosphere.

turn skillet on medium low

when a flick of water on skillet surface brings sizzlin'
throw in eggs *gently*

wait five mins or so, til eggs lift easily, happily, all together now with metal spatula.
add salt and local organic honey.

say prayer of thanks.
enjoy.

belly: happy.
hands: moisturized.
soul: satisfied.


lard is the best moisturizer!

perfectly processed apples.
_______________________

1 bushel organic apples, donated generously to ky earthship group by green bean delivery
1 dollop local honey
1 Tblsp organic cinnamon
1 gallon local creek water

cut apples into nickel sized pieces, removing the inedibles (!)
place in small crockpot.
cover with water
turn on low.

go to sleep.
get up with the sun. let the chickens out. do your yoga stretches in the field.
cuddle the cats. smell the apples. smells good, don't it?
add honey and cinnamon to pot. eat apples for breakfast, on front porch rocker, in the sun. smile.

life is good.


and...
Sarah's Super Yuck-Feeling Buster
_______________________
i always turn to this recipe when i feel a creepin warm heavy feeling in my chest or a pain in my throat... cold be gone!

1 quart mason jar fresh local creek water
1" piece ginger, sliced thin as you can
1 or 2 cloves garlic, minced or sliced, as you prefer
3 pinches dried lemon rind
3 pinches dried orange rind
4 cloves
1 Tblsp raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar. live, with the 'mother' intact.
1 Tblsp (a daily ration) chia seeds

boil ginger and garlic for 15 mins or so.
add lemon, orange and cloves
let steep 5 minutes
pour in mason jar.
if you are impatient, add cold clear creek water. if not, wait til its cool enough to drink, then add vinegar and chia seeds.

drink super warm.
sip on this all day when feeling yucky. it will make you better lickety split.

also great as a health booster. 1 cup a day.

:)