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.

:)

Ready to Restore Our Rights

Dear friends,
I have found some exciting ways for you to ensure your rights in the near future.
Please look into the following.



thesurvivalsummit.com

Register before Jan 20 for the free online survival training videos.

Addressing:
Property security and threat preparedness
Food production
Energy and water securing

___________________________

If you are not yet holding facts that we need to act, now, or simply need some fire under your ass to get you going... watch this.
http://www.cultureunplugged.com/documentary/watch-online/play/7350/Call-of-Life--Facing-the-Mass-Extinction



Within all this we must reunite with our source, with one another, with the universe, our Earth.


"I stand for what I stand on." - Wendell Berry


For spiritual diving, I highly recommend a free retreat at your local Vipassana Meditation Centre. It was the best thing I ever did for myself.
http://www.dhamma.org/




There can be no crime without a victim.

We accept personal responsibility and we move towards action.

We will survive.


Namaste, friends.

(I am you.
You are me.
We are one.)

adventures on the site today.

blood orange art

elvis contemplates his life in front of the wood stove

me in the mirror

mouse in the mouse motel. soon to be taken to a farm far away and let free.

the hens are cozy in their cob and glass bottle house

one of 3 roosters in a clutch of 14 total

letter to daniel.

dear daniel,

hope you are well. i am making baked apples and just made 2 crockpots (1 huge one, 1 little one) full of bean soup. I have bread dough ready, we caught our first mouse. The cats are scaring its wits out. 

The stove is being hard to keep up with today. I let it die earlier, down to more than ever. It really takes a long time for those coals to totally go out. I didnt count, but at least 5 hours and they were still hot. Many turning to ash, but some still hot.

I took a walk out through the field and sang songs. The whole way. 

Theres this one Katy Perry song I think I may sing at church. 

Its the new one, 'Unconditionally.' To me its the love of the Earth singing to its people. Because we and the Earth are  made of the same stuffs. She is our Creator, we are Her. 

And I am you.

And You are Me.

And I am god.

And you are god.

And we are one.

Everyone.

(Truths I  need constant reminding of. )

:>

I also wanna go target practice with you and Mike this weekend.

my hands are cold.

Been trying to fast a bit because I have been so afflicted in my body. We are what we eat.

so I am 

tired

sometimes depressed (though not for a while.. :) )

tired

lazy

very sweet

and other things sugar does. :(

Its sooooooo

important

what we put into our bodies

affects our brains, emotions, errythang.

I used to think of the body as just a shell. A vehicle. Not connected with the consciousness.

But yo, it really is. Very entwined.

We are what we eat, think, breathe.

Touch.

Aww..

TK just jumped in my lap. And it got real warm

and sweet. Distract-o-kitty.

Anyway, got things to do!

Call me.

<3

Sarah

Grayson County Time Bank - Preemptively Launched, with high approval of Ky Earthship Group :)

Check out
Grayson County Time Bank on Facebook

and if you aren't a fan yet, of course you gotta see
Ky Earthship Group on Facebook


By joining the Grayson County Time Bank, you ensure that every hour you help on the Ship will grant you an hour of help from another Time Bank member.


check out
timebanks.org

for more information.

January 8 Wednesday - THE HIDDEN LIFE

January 8

Wednesday 

THE HIDDEN

LIFE

Read: Colossians 3:12 - 17

______________________

Whatever you do in 

word or deed, do all in

the name of the Lord Jesus.

--Colossians 3.17

_______________________

THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:

. Genesis 20 - 22

. Matthew 6:19 - 34

Some years ago, I came across a

poem by George MacDonald

 titled, "The Hidden Life." It tells the

story of an intellectually gifted young

person who turned their back on a presti-

geous academic career to return to its 

aging father and to the family farm.

There it engaged in what MacDonald

called, 'ordinary deeds' and 'simple

forms of human helpfulness.' 

Some people lamented it was a

waste of his talents.

Perhaps you too serve in some

unnoticed place, doing nothing more

than ordinary deeds. But god wastes

nothing. Every act of love rendered for

Its sake is noted and has eternal effects.

Every place, no matter how

small, is holy ground.

Influence is more than lofty acts and

words. It can be a simple matter of human helpfulness: 

Being present

Listening

Understanding the need

Loving

Praying. Meditating. Delving into ones self. The source. All that is. Everyone and everyhing, because we are all connected. We are all -God-s children-. We are all made in his image. We are all fragments of the source. We are made from the same base. It is the energy that flows through all things -omnipresent. It is made of love -Omnibenevolent.  It is the energy that fuels all things - Omnipotent.  It is constant awareness, the highest height of awareness. It is omniscient.

This is what turns daily duty into worship and service.

The apostle Paul challenged the Colossians: 'Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the lord Jesus," and "do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance." (Col. 3:17, 23 - 24).

God takes notice and delights in using us.

---David Roper

Dear Lord, may I be willing to be hidden and unknown 

today, yet ready to speak a word to those who are weary. 

May your spirit touch my words and make them 

your words that enrich and refresh others.

_________________________________________________________________________________

The way to accomplish much for Christ

(for God, for the universe, for your own good and the good of all)

is to serve Him in any way we can.

Broadcast #3 - The frozen tundra. 0 degrees.

Broadcast 2. Live inside the main house, having had to abandon ship for warmer habitation. 

Outdoor temp 0 F.

Indoor temp 30 F 

Even with sections open clear to the sky, sails having torn free
In the windstorm of early December. 

A trudge through icy landscrape

Reveals

1/2" layers of ice
Creak creak CRACK pop
Under my weight
Deceptive in their woodenness

Reveals

Mud for miles
(Mud for acres.
Muddy Acres)
Under the ice

The crescent moon
Palpable
Growing
Serene against blue

Camouflaged in wisps of cloud

Boom boom boom boom

The persistent beat of a living earth
Under my boots

Pop POW pop POW POW pop

The violent flapping of the MotherEarthship's white sails
Someone's ready to set sail
Time to push off to sea

Full throttle ahead
Against a blanket of icebergs

Baby don't run aground

ALL HANDS ON DECK
SHE IS SETTING SAIL.


(the MotherEarthship sets sail)

A Bit of Land

A little bit of land is all I ask.
Just a small place to call my own,
Where I can put down roots, so deep, so deep,
That great-grandchildren will still call it home.

Is it so much to ask? A lane of trees,
Bringing birdsong and colored leaves,
A grape arbor, the roses beyond,
Sweet lilacs, holding in their arms, the lawn…

Tulips and yellow daffodil,
Spattered up and down the cedar hill,
Sweet gurgling brook, fresh and cool,
The brush beyond, sheltering grouse
And sage, and shy, sweet deer.

Oh aching heart, hungry, hungry soul,
What little bit to make a grateful whole.

Is there no spot in all this Universe?
A little valley, with a cabin home,
A bit of garden I can call my own…

I would not bruise the land, or tear it apart,
But keep it beating with a happy, blooming heart.
Each bit of soil, which God had surely blessed,
Would be a cozy home for seeds to rest…

And grow and nourish, comforting all men,
With fruit and shade, and food for every soul.
A little bit of land, to call my own,
Within its small confines, a loving home…

And fertile soil, no matter the toil,
I would so grateful be, if God
Would take a little chance on me,
And give me a small plot of lonely sod
That needs a gentle hand, and God.

(By Jennie Senrud Hutton) Taken from the Encyclopedia of Country Living, 40th Anniversary Edition, by Carla Emery

Broadcast #2 - Day 1

The morning of Day 2 

I am warm enough in my tent - I even sweated through the night, in my 30 degree sleeping bag, piled with blankets and a down comforter. I arise, assess the temperature to be around 40 degrees, leave the tent, keeping my three furry children safe inside. 

It has started to snow outside, and the partially-ripped plastic sails on the domes are flapping violently. The plastic sectioning off the domes has been ripped free and is moving in the wind... wooden stakes ripped from icy mud and jerking around on the ground like a livewire...

I go to relight the rocket stove we built a month ago out of cob, firebricks and an air tank. Sleepy and cozy, I had let it die overnight. It needs fed every 2 hours - currently in prototype mode. 

I kneel on a wooden board, my fleece pants brushing against mud floor, and peer into the long terra cotta pipe that feeds the burn chamber. I add 5 pinecones collected yesterday, while singing a song of tremendous thanks to the mother Earth for warmth and beauty, love and light. I add three 2"x8" hardwood pieces, using a piece of wood to shove them deep into the pipe. I add small pieces of wood, strike up a firestarter, holding it upside down for a few moments to help it get going, and toss it into the stove. Ignition! My first self-made fire, ever. 
This city girl has some lessons to learn...

Satisfied with myself, I straighten up, and call my Earthship Group partner Daniel, to see when he will arrive. My homesick heart and fish-straight-outta-water head had me nearly begging him to please come help, the night before. Today he will arrive to help plan and build and prepare for the wicked super-below-freezing temperatures and snowstorm that are due to arrive within days. 

Shortly into our conversation, I glance at my rocket stove and mouth an expletive. Smoke is billowing into the room around the fire bricks, and as I watch, flames lick at the entrance. 
Ensue freakout mode. 

Coughing and squinting, I remove as much of the fuel as I can.  Sassy is crying incessantly. The room is filling with smoke. The loud, violent beating of the sails raises the intensity of the situation further. I swing wide the large plywood door to the ship and stumble out into a blizzard, heading for the barn as refuge.

Rocket stove temporarily out of commission. 

Mike is gone to work for the day so I'm on my own. This homesick city girl is left feeling damn witless until the radio starts playing Katy Perry.

Katy Perry - Roar

"I got the eye of the tiger
the fire

Dancing through the fire
'Cause I am a champion

and you're gonna hear me roar
Louder

louder than a lion
'Cause I am a champion

and you're gonna hear me roar!"

So I grab my toolbelt, hammer and slap stapler and begin stapling back up the plastic wall dropped on either side of the dome, starting at the top, triple layering, stapling, then hammering firmly into wall. 

Action counteracts anxiety!

When Daniel arrives, he assesses the situation and makes a plan - we will use the existing plastic and 2x4s to frame up a wall where as currently there is plastic flapping free, and create a sturdier wall, tamping the plastic down with 2x3" squares of wood (plastic has a tendency to tear, and there are sometimes 30mph+ winds here). 

The end result is quite fantastic. After working into the night with headlamps, drills and layers, we finish the walls in about 24 hours. 

The rocket stove will need further assessing...

(to be continued...)

Broadcast 1 - Live from Tent 1 inside the MotherEarthship

have wiped away the last of more than one tearflow today.

have sung an offering of thanks to the stove, the ship, my friends, my family, love in human hearts, kitties' soft furs, the eyes of one who loves me, sunshine and light.

have just fed the stove for the night, taken (hopefully, naively) my last pee

on the beautifully-made double-seater compost toilet.

song 1. created spontaneously, sung with soul, through tears, sails flapping forcefully a rhythm, hands black with soot from rocket stove fuel.

i am grateful to the rocket stove

and i am grateful to the earthship

i am grateful to the friends i know

and i am grateful to the earthship

i am grateful for the love that we give

we give all that we can give

i am grateful for my family

they love me best as they know

we do the best that we can do

we do all that we can do...

i am grateful to the rocket stove

i am grateful for its red hot glow

i am grateful to the cold breeze that blows

and i am grateful for the falling snow

i am grateful for the things i will know

when i go....

i am grateful

i am grateful

i am grateful...