A Brutal Interview

I know the point of this blog is to keep family & friends who aren't near us aware of what's going on in our lives & I do try to keep it light. BUT occasionally there is a political or human interest piece that resonates so very strongly I feel I must post it. I'm not on any social media & I don't send forwards on my emails so this is my platform.
 These employees worked in Houston. I've been following the Gosnell case for some months & it seems that this is a similar & "nicer" clinic in Texas. It would not surprise me to find at least one similarly run clinic in every state. There are no graphic images in this 14 min. video unless your imagination works.

The Color Wizard

Charlotte's latest ambitious project is to color a picture everyday & cover every square inch of her wall w/ her colors. She's been mailing them out to family members & I think they are mostly glad to receive them. What I thought was mostly funny is that she's decided to start w/ her closet wall, lol. She's so loveably backwards.

Not a coloring project but she did want a fishing pole so rigged one up for her after a fashion. She wanted one of her real hooks on their but I deemed one made out of a paper clip to be a slightly safer option. I don't know if she's enjoy real fishing or not, but I mean to try & take them out this year somewhere & try.

Babies Galore: Graphic!

Chickens are gross. They love everything that comes out from a birth. 

Clarice nursing, helping to get her brother out.

Victor thought it was much cooler than the twin goat birth on youtube.

There is Clyde, that is afterbirth hanging out of Abigail. She passed it about 3 hours later.

The first clutch of eggs hatched, 7 out of 8 were successfully born. One cracked it's shell all the way around coming out but never managed to get out of the shell & was smelly by the time we went out there.

I thought Abigail would enjoy some greens as she's been running to the branch on her way into the shed to tear off clumps of whatever is growing so I staked her out an hour before the usual going in time. She didn't want to be there which I thought odd. She kept nuzzling me & licking my apron which she doesn't usually do so I hung out w/ her & saw her water bag just break in a gush. I ran & got Mike & when I came back there were already little hooves & a nose coming out.

She did very good, gave 1 or 2 good yells & was done. Mike is so baby ready he came out in his purple rubber gloves & bulb syringe but I had already had Victor grab a rag & pulled the mucous off of it's nose. It was a girl! A boy followed 15 min. later. I felt pretty bad for not following her signals of wanting to be back in her shed; the babies were born on a hill & kept rolling down until we picked them up & took them to flatter land.

She licked them all clean & dry & followed them & a box of raisins back to her shed where she promptly drank 3 gal. of warm molasses water. The children & I had just watched a twin goat birth on youtube a couple of weeks prior & I was so glad they got to see this in person.  Our first goats were the "A" series w/ Annie & Abigail, followed by Buford, Beatrice & Bertram. This is Clyde & Clarice.

I get chocolate, she gets raisins.

We've another clutch of eggs due in a week. Mike doesn't want more than 2 this year so we're doing a lot of breaking up of broody chickens right now. They go sitting crazy this time of year which is not a bad thing to happen. I feel like the Chinese government chickenwards. We're thankful for God's provision in these little lives & hope to do better this year than last.

Spring Update

It's been mostly warmer here & that's led to some much welcome changes. School can be outside...

I've got a gestation countdown in my planner. The first is for baby chicks, the second for baby goats, the third for me :).

Mike went up to Asheville to pick up some new seeds I've been anxious to acquire. Local GMO free heirloom seeds native to southern Appalachia. There's a melon so rare they won't sell more than 12 seeds per packet. I chose it because it specifically said the rinds were good for pickling & I enjoy putting those up.

What w/ laundry, homeschool & impending baby DV, I had asked Mike to take over the garden as he only had class 2 days a week & that over the first week of May. He extended the garden & opted for the traditional row garden as opposed to my square foot set up. I am trying to keep my mouth shut on too many helpful suggestions & try to give it a half hours attention a day to weeding & thinning, which he appreciates. We're trying the Gardening by the Moon section of the farmers almanac this year.

The seeds I had planted too late in Oct. for winter greens never came up until after he had sowed the spring greens so it got crowded in there pretty quick. I had forgotten what I'd planted & I think my lettuce & spinach is actually mustard & beet. They both make a good salad though, just a little spicy. Potatoes, onions, garlic, strawberries, peas & beans are in here along w/ the herbs that overwintered.

The new extended section we've dubbed "triangle patch". We're not expecting much this year, but I had thought we ought to give our raised bed a Jubilee but that wouldn't leave us w/ much either. So we'll have a staggered patch. I'd like to extend the whole thing to down near the branch but if I'm not doing most of the work I'd better not ask, lol. The garlic is in, the melons, cukes & carrots are in but not up yet & I've thinned some kale over there as well.

Spring is round!

Make a Bedcap

Something I believe in firmly are chores for children & letting them get a sense of accomplishment from a job well done. Making the bed is a very basic job & instantly makes the room look 70% clean. I start bed making at age 2 & generally help w/ it but so far it has been difficult to not set them up for failure w/ their types of beds ie. bunks w/ rails.
I have tried everything, especially as most of the blankets we own are not twin sized. We've had the added difficulty of putting a too-large blanket on a bed & all 3 of them hate a top sheet. I'm not sure why, they all like being in my bed w/ it's top sheet. I generally just fold the top sheet in half on top of the plastic mattress cover & cover it w/ the fitted sheet to put an extra layer underneath. Sleeping on only the fitted sheet over the plastic makes for a sweaty night.
In the colder months I just had them fold the comfortors in half like a sleeping bag, it's easier to make that way. But when the inevetible night accident occurs it's incredibly difficult to wash & nigh impossible to wring. I can, but it's a herculean effort & puts the scheduled laundry on hold, especially as that is not laundry I let hang around more than a day.
I went online to see how other parents handled this & found something called a bedcap. It's basically a fitted comforter w/out all of the overhang. I was pretty disheartened when I saw the average price was $110.00 for a single set of bedding. I already had a ton of bedding so I figured I'd just try my hand at it myself.

Here's the original blanket, for a double bed. Their mattresses are "bunkies" which I think is the same size as twin but much thinner.

Measure your mattress. I disremember but I think this was a 11x14 rectangle.

Remove some fluff to facilitate ease on your machine.

I had to go back & cut about a 4" strip up either side to get rid of too much overhang. Do that before you pin your square.

I just used a zig-zag all the way around.

A new box seam!

I didn't have it on the bed but this was how I was having them fold the too large blanket on the bed in the morning during make-up. W/ one end boxed, it really makes folding/ storage of the blanket easier & neater
.

The completed & made bed. It's actually too hot for these comforters now, she just sleeps w/ a light pink baby blanket at night.

 All of the overhang there is. If she wants to tuck it in I'll be thrilled, but that's not something I plan to enforce as this isn't all that messy looking.

A view of the newly boxed in end. There you go! You've just saved your family $100.00 & made the mornings more peaceful w/ happier & proud children. 

A Shower!

The ladies at church threw me a baby shower, it was very sweet. I had a shower when pregnant w/ Victor & got so much stuff that I've been pretty good since then. BUT, you can't always live off of baby #1. Victor, being our first, we needed everything so I had charged everyone w/ going out & getting the best yard sale/ thrift store finds they could. They did & showered me at a tea party. Everyone wore big silly hats.

This shower was less cutesy & more emotional for me, being in a different place. We could have bought everything under the sun w/ Victor but let the shower go on for "tradition" & a chance to be pampered. There is pretty much no way we could have gotten anything for this baby & having the Body of Christ bless us so much turned me into an emotional wreck. Really I've done more crying than I've ever done since high school since attending this church & this time I'm not depressed. It could be the pregnancy hormones & I'm sure that plays a part but I didn't do much during the other 3 pregnancies so I'm not sure.

Anyways, since I wasn't registered any where they pooled their resources & presented us w/  $340.00 in Amazon gift cards & $125.00 in Wal-Mart & Babies R'Us gift cards.

I also received a beautifully done post-partum basket full of handmade lotions & potions (& chocolate!) from Aiden. We're thankful to have been led here & excited about how we can serve in return.

The 200th Post

I started this blog in October of 09' & my blogger dashboard has informed me that this is my 200th post. You can see how consistent of a blogger I am. It's been fun & though I've not been as regular w/ it as I'd have liked I am glad that I've not given it up.

 I did give up writing things & thoughts out in long hand in my diary as it was too much to keep up a public & private correspondence but I've found that talking to real people makes real friends. I started my diary when I was 17 & didn't have any real friends & it served me well as a sounding board. Occasionally I'll still scribble but more often now I find myself able to talk to people as I'm not as intensely private as I was. I enjoy the people & fellowship I've "met" w/, really met w/ & written to (in longhand via snail mail) through blogging & feel that I've made some friends across the country that otherwise wouldn't have happened. So I'm not a Luddite.

I just thought that I'd put it out there & am thankful for the people God has put in my path through this medium.