summertime, and the living’s easy

Posted on June 30, 2008 - Filed Under food, goats, honeymilk farm | 1 Comment

The kids and I have gotten into a bit of an idyllic, summertime routine. Blackberry picking, swimming in the pond, milking goats, reading library books (it’s cool at the library, a big draw), playing trains and puzzles in the afternoon when it’s hot. Flopping on the air conditioned sofa for some tv when it’s really [...]

i’m joining the circus!

Posted on June 29, 2008 - Filed Under kiddo life | 1 Comment

A week ago, Sophie spent five days at Fun Camp, a wonderful day camp sort of thing, run by some enterprising and creative teen-agers we know. She had a total blast. One of the things the group did was create a play to show to the parents on the last day. It was called Circus [...]

the best book I’ve (not) read in years

Posted on June 27, 2008 - Filed Under reviews | Leave a Comment

Well, I didn’t read it because it doesn’t have any words. But The Arrival, by Shaun Tan, is about the most beautiful and moving book I’ve seen in years.

Go get it at the library or buy a copy–get a new one so the author can get a little money–and be prepare to be amazed. It [...]

how to build a yurt (7 of 10)

Posted on June 26, 2008 - Filed Under alternative building | 2 Comments

These pictures are all of the tension ring going up. First you see the ring, this huge piece of multi-layered wood, really pretty. I was all “the instructions say to use a rope and lift it up using the scaffolding as a fulcrum…” and the men looked at me like I was nuts and said, [...]

in which I whine about milking stubborn, resistant goats

Posted on June 24, 2008 - Filed Under goats, honeymilk farm | Leave a Comment

Our goat babies, Mike and Liam, have moved on, leaving us Sunday to live with their new family. We were very happy to find a lovely gal to take them in as pets–but sad to see them go. Luc keeps saying, “the baby goats don’t live with us anymore.” He’ll say it at odd and [...]

blackberry tai chi

Posted on June 23, 2008 - Filed Under food, honeymilk farm | 1 Comment

Today’s harvest.

Isn’t that pretty? Mostly the patch looks like this:

Lots of red berries. But there are enough black blackberries to get us out there every morning. And evening. We’ll be swamped in another week or so, but the flow at the moment, is juuuuuust right.
Always there is the Law of Picking: don’t fight the patch. [...]

the solstice from inside a sundial

Posted on June 21, 2008 - Filed Under alternative building | Leave a Comment

Living inside a yurt, a round structure with a five foot, transparent, dome on the top, is just like living inside a giant calender.

This is a shot from before we moved our mountains of stuff if (obviously!) so you can see what I mean. The sun (or the moon, at night) shines through the dome, creating a [...]

how to build a yurt (6 out of 10)

Posted on June 20, 2008 - Filed Under alternative building | 2 Comments

After five pages of photos about the six weeks of hard work to prepare, we finally come to the actual day the yurt went up! The obtuse, absurd, book of instructions suggested doing it in two days, but we had 60% chance of rain the next day–it had to be up by the end of [...]

the way of the bento

Posted on June 20, 2008 - Filed Under food, kiddo life | 1 Comment

If you haven’t seen the Japanese movie (or, more likely, the english dub of) My Neighbor Totoro, run, don’t walk, to beg, borrow, or netflix it.  You won’t be sorry. It is a wonderful movie, kid friendly, yes, but don’t let the fact that it’s animated make you think it is only for kids. It is [...]

inside outside guest house

Posted on June 16, 2008 - Filed Under alternative building | 1 Comment

My wonderful friend Priscilla is coming to visit today.  I’m so excited! I haven’t seen her in person in four years. She’s staying for three days–long enough that putting her on the sofa just isn’t going to cut it. What to do? Where do you put a guest when you live in a glorified tent? 
In a glorified [...]