There are two beautiful pie cherry trees on the land. I love walking past on the way to the mailbox and picking a hand full to munch on. They’re tart and juicy and delicious. It’s almost time to harvest them…ALREADY!!! I have not gotten used to this foreign planting zone yet. I think cherry topping over homemade vanilla ice cream is in the near future culinary plans.
Of course climbing the tree is almost as much fun as eating the cherries!
The girls always want to paint. I’m sorry to say that I usually discourage this activity. The mess is what I usually think about when they ask, not the creativity, not nurturing their artistic side, but the laundry, the mopping, the wiping. Thankfully we came up with the perfect solution. I hung an old sheet on the clothesline and rolled the bottom on a piece of rebar to keep the sheet taut. Poured some washable paint into an old egg carton and let the creative juices flow!
We now have a washable, reusable canvas that is completely messable!
Apparently backwards painting is a blast!
I’m sitting here enjoying the cool air (84 degrees 60% humidity) before the real heat of the day comes up. Thats right it’s 10:20 am and I’m already sweating like a pig. But pigs have no sweat glands do they? Hmm, another phrase to wiki. I’m feeling quite homesick for MN and snow. However, finding creative ways to keep cool has become my main point of interest these days. Heat indexes of 110+ is not fun with no air conditioning, 3 kids, 1 dog, and 6 cats. So here is my current list of ways to combat the heat without whining!
1) Kiddie pool- The $28.88 I had to put into Walmart’s pocket for this has been money well spent. As was the harrowing experience of driving 55 mph home with it tied to the top of the car and having it buckle in half driving around a curve. I must admit I felt bad for the people behind me slamming on their brakes in an attempt to avoid getting hit with the tiki-themed molded plastic hanging off the back passenger side of the car, but no accidents were caused. And although fitting 3 adults-sized and 2 children-sized humans made things a bit cramped, the ice cold well water did provide some relief from the heat.
2) Cold showers- One cannot help but revel in the feeling of cool water on the scalp and back of the neck. The anticipation of this is greater then a high school boy’s on prom night. Unfortunately, the lasting effect of this ecstasy can probably be likened to the analogy above. Humidity does not let you dry. Which leads us to number 3…
3) Standing naked in front of a fan- Whether its right out of the cold shower, or covered with sticky sweat, this is the only chance of drying off. Or feeling air move. Downside of this of course, is you have to get dressed again. And pulling clothes onto wet skin is a sensation I can do without.
4) Consumerism- Stores have air conditioning. Enough said.
5) Kung Fu Panda- Everyone in the house has been looking forward to this movie coming out for months now. Today we’re going to enjoy a blissful 2 hours of sitting in a frigid theater and watching the summer kids blockbuster.
Now I know there are more ways of staying cool, ways of spending less money, using less energy, being more creative. Unfortunately, this heat makes me feel like I’m close to overdosing on allergy medicine. Foggy in the head and slow in the body. Any ideas would be quite welcome, we’ve got at least 48 more hours of this before the heat wave breaks. For now, I’m going to go let the keyboard dry out, my finger tips are sweating.
We’ve been drooling over hammocks for years. Last weekend we finally decided to take the plunge and invest in relaxation. And may I say, its been well worth it.
Ta-Da!!!!
The view from said place of contentment…
The girls have been loving it!
It’s been great for family giggles.
I even managed to capture the o-so-elusive teenage smile.
On a side note, I saw a black widow yesterday. And I’m not talking about Theresa Russell here. Ho. Ly. Shit. Thank god for hammers.
And yes they’re the cutest things EVER!!! My cat FINALLY gave birth Saturday evening. She had six kittens but lost one. 
( I am completely in love with the one Zadye is holding, I hope its a boy since I swore we will not have another female. I had to completely midwife with her, she didn’t seem to know how to queen properly, but she’s doing well now and they are thriving! I think I will post the actual birth story later, but for now, enjoy the pictures!
Filed under: eden
I am very happy to announce the newest addition to our family, Glory Bea. After months of having our lawn cut with a bush hog, (uneven cut, great big gouges in the lawn) we will be able to ride Glory Bea in style, cutting grass to our hearts content. Thank you Terry for finding this fabulous free machine, yea you heard me, FREE! Now of course Mama has plans for making her all pretty. I’ve got some nice leftover red spray paint to stencil flames on her sides. She’ll match the garden chairs! And I think her name will have to go below the flames, don’t you? I, of course, will post a picture after that’s done, but here’s a picture of our new baby Glory Bea, next to the bush hog tractor.
Filed under: Photo, eden | Tags: crocus, feather, gumball, macro, nature, Photo
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- Pollen anyone?
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- Gumball
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- Fly Away
I have been quite troubled for the past 9 months or so. John McCain has been the source of my troubles. I know logically that he and I have quite a difference of opinion politically. Yet there has been something about him that seems quite near and dear to my heart. Like I LOVE this man. Tonight I have finally found the source for all of this. Heavy.com. 1999. Yes, I think this was my first introduction to internet mixed-muti-media-political-humor-satire-viral-get-down-with-your-bad-self video, my de-flowering if you will. It’s still as good now as it was then.
I do realize I have always been part hippy. I’m probably the oldest Autumn you know, I was born in northern MN where my parents, long-haired hippies that they were, wanted to live off the land, and I’ve used my fair share of patchouli. But living in the country has really pushed me over the edge.
I live on a piece of land that would not take much work to turn into a self-sustainable homestead. It’s already in the process of it. There are fruit trees galore, apple, cherry, peach, pear, fig, etc. There are walnut and pecan trees, blackberries, sassafrass. I almost started crying this morning when I discovered that one of the vines growing in a dense forested area is a massive grape vine. I have discovered the joys of wild strawberries and purple clover. Almost every day I am looking up some plant or another to determine what exactly it is, and finding so many uses for wild, or turned wild plants. I positively identified some lemon balm this morning and proceeded to transplant it into one of my four gardens. Thats right, I said FOUR gardens. Canning is in the plans.
I am feeding wildlife, we surrounded our house with hummingbird feeders and have to duck from their swooping on a regular basis. We have a cardinal couple that pecks at our windows if they run out of food in their feeder. Plans for stocking our pond with edible fish are in progress. Learning about the many new variety of birds has become great fun for the girls and I.
I am buying incense in 100 stick packs, of course if you had to cover the smell of chicken poo you would be burning incense around the clock too. Having to haul my own trash has opened my eyes to how much garbage we generate. I have started buying things in accordance with the amount of packaging. We use and reuse as much as possible. Our garden fences, trellises, borders and path materials are completely out of found objects and materials. We have had a plethera of “garbage” to work with since previous tenants completely trashed the whole place.
My children are learning faster then I am. They can identify the difference between male and female tracks. They hear the difference in bird calls and can tell me who’s making them or what it means for the upcoming weather. They munch on wild plants, strawberries, mint, clovers.
If only I could move this 47 acres and its contents and inhabitants back to MN so I could be close to my family and friends. If not for missing my loved ones so desperately I would be completely, obscenely happy here. There is a reason this place is called Eden.
