orphan girl

One of our (beloved) family holiday traditions is singing.  Usually my sister plays the piano and leads us in singing favorite old hymns.  Then the guitars and mandolins are pulled out and the folk music begins. 

Yesterday my brother's lovely girlfriend played and sang for us Gillian Welch's  Orphan Girl, lyrics below: 

I am an orphan on God's highway
But I'll share my troubles if you go my way

I have no mother, no father
No sister, no brother
I am an orphan girl

I have had friendships pure and golden
The ties of kinship have not known them

I know no mother, no father
No sister, no brother
I am an orphan girl

But when He calls me I will be able
To meet my family at God's table

I'll meet my mother, my father
My sister, my brother
No more an orphan girl

Blessed Savior make me willing
Walk beside me until I'm with them

Be my mother, my father
My sister, my brother
I am an orphan girl
I am an orphan girl

In the middle of the song, Chickadee blurts out "That was me."

The Great Thanksgiving CheckList

The Great Thanksgiving List
because proper preparation and planning prevents poor performance!

at least 1 week before
1. order brine if use Williams Sonoma
2. purchase turkey
3. if you are cooking a turkey for the first time, or trying a new method, do a practice turkey
4. press leaves for table decorations
5. polish silver
6. make & freeze pie crusts
7. finalize & delegate menu
8. clean oven
9. confirm table coverings
10. collect table decorations
11. confirm that your turkey fits in your pan
12. confirm that you have a working food thermometer

weekend before
1. clean house
2. make duty cards: door host, coffee sergeant, appetizer server, table waiters, before dinner kitchen tidier, sous chef, table clearer, after dinner kitchen tidier, garbage taker-outer, dessert server, after dessert kitchen tidier. Folks draw one card on arrival and that is their duty for the day (I assign some of them as I see fit).
3. timeline food prep
4. wash living room & dining room windows
5. figure out turkey thawing schedule
6. empty front hall closet and confirm available hangers

Tuesday
1. make mashed potatoes
2. roast pumpkins
3. make pumpkin soup
4. clean off all ancillary surfaces and tables

Wednesday
1. brine big turkey
2. set up tables
3. set tables
4. set out and label serving platters & utensils
5. set out extra platters and serving bowls for guest use
6. mix up turkey rub
7. make dressing
8. make pumpkin black bean casserole
9. mix up pecan pie filling
10. stage apple dumplings
11. lay in fire
12. clean house again
13. move living room furniture to accommodate extra chairs
14. filter and chill water for table

Thursday
1. remove potatoes from fridge
2. rub down turkey if you didn't brine
3. run & empty dishwasher
4. confirm garbage can is empty
5. sweep front porch and walk
6. stage tea station
7. sniff check animal litter boxes just in case

12:00
1. make a thermos of coffee & prep coffee maker for next round
2. make sure you have eaten something sustaining

1:45
1. confirm small lamps and candles are on/lit
2. recruit valet for parking
3. confirm dishwasher is empty
4. turn on coffee pot
5. close and latch bunny room door against visiting dogs and small children.

reposted from November 2009: Guests: 22. Location: my house.

a letter from Dad

I don't know how old this is; I found it during the great purging.

Vacation Tips for Parksville/Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada

We just got back from another great week on Vancouver Island.  We zip over the border, catch a ferry in Tsawwassen, gaze at the beautiful scenery as we cross over to Nanaimo, drive 45 minutes north and enjoy the aptly named city of Parksville.  The first thing we did was drive to French Creek Seafood where we bough fresh salmon, oysters, clams, and scallops.  It's a bit tricksy to find, but worth it if you are ever vacationing in the area.

We enjoyed Kids Fest, a day of Child-Centered activities at the impressive Parksville Community Park.  There's a water-park, a fully tricked out play-ground (zip line even!), a boardwalk, a terrific sandy beach, a skateboard park, and more.  Will Stroet and the Backyard Band kept the kids and the adults entertained with his silly songs and easy manner.  Chickadee transformed into a superhero before our very eyes.

On an other day we drove to Nanaimo (20 minutes) where we took a ferry to Newcastle Island for a day of biking and strolling.  We rented bikes there and had a beautiful ride along pine-needle trails with a view of the seashore.  My kids have never seen me ride a bike.  They kept telling me how its done.  Somehow the bikes didn't make it into the pictures.  Here we are at resting point.

We spent a very nice afternoon at the Milner Gardens where we enjoyed a woodland stroll, a nice gift-shop, an lovely tea shop with scones and devon cream, and a beautiful view of the ocean. I doubt if the gardeners are too thrilled about the deer in the gardens, but we thought this little fawn was darling.

We also had a lovely time at the Little Qualicum Cheeseworks which featured a petting zoo, cheese samples, wine samples, gift shop, ice cream.

We enjoyed Miniature Golf at Riptide Lagoon where Chickadee got two hole-in-ones.  There are two miniature golf centers in Nanaimo.  Both are enjoyable.

And, as we do every year, we visited the Old Country Market aka "Goats on the Roof": import shop, food market for foodies, bakery, deli, cafe, ice cream, and goats.  The goats stroll about on the roof above you as you eat.

New finds this year include:
Springford Farms where we could have bought organic produce, eggs, beef, and chicken if we had found it earlier. 
Bread and Honey: a new lunch stop.  Freshly baked bread, sandwiches, cookies, really yummy soup.  Very friendly proprietresses. 

Note to Self: Next year we want to make sure that we visit Little Qualicum Falls and the Historical Museum.

a mish-mash: mother's day, scissor beak, pullets (teenage chickens) roosting on goats, garden report

We had a great Mother's Day. First my children made this lovely meal for me.  Then we went to church (where our pastor incorporated LOST into the sermon -- he's very cool) and then to my Mom's for the day.  We brunched and weed-eated and pruned and hedged and raked and swept and roasted hot dogs and came home tired.  This was much better than our previous holiday (Easter) where we swept and cleaned and cooked and ate and ran off to ER to hang out with Dad and Mom.  Dad had driven his van into the house and broken  his van, his chair, his femur, his ankle, the screendoor and his renter's shiny new BBQ.

Our pullets are growing and have discovered a new roost.  The near pullet is sound asleep and doesn't wake up as Alex wanders about.  Alas one of our pullets has scissor beak.  We are still checking, but we doubt that much can be done for her.  When she starts to starve we'll have to put her down.  Just exactly how this works I don't want to think about.  And speaking of impending sorrow, our beloved Joy (13 year-old house-rabbit) has a rapidly growing lump.

On to good news: the asparagus we planted has come up. We have nine raised vegetable beds, all full. Andy is having a great time with baseball; he hits almost every game. I am deep-purging the house (every cupboard, every storage bin, every sock drawer, nothing is safe) in preparation for a big garage sale and to raise money for my van; we've outgrown our station wagon.

We are having a beautiful spring with a just the right mix of rainy days (indoor work gets done) and sunny days (outdoor work).  Some days are a mix of both.

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femivore

One of my students called me a femivore in his final essay.  A what?  I only eat females?  I am a female who eats?  I am a feminist (ha!) that eats? What does he mean? 

Being well-trained, he kindly provided a definition along with his specialty jargon. 

Orenstein defines femivores as women who have renounced the consumer culture and have made the home a self-sustaining center of labor and livelihood.  These women typically grew their own vegetables, kept chickens, canned their fruit and stuffed sausages. A majority home-schooled their kids and derived their income by working on-line (Lisiecki).

Ah, yes, that is me.  But who is Orenstein?

Peggy Orenstein is the author of (among other things) a March 14, 2010 article in the New York Times, The Femivore's Dilemma, giving attention-- and a new name -- to those of us that in a previous generation would have been called home-makers. Ree Drummond over at Pioneer Woman is a classic example of a femivore, complete with the Black Heels to Tractor Wheels story line.

It's a great article; you should read it.  It's also a great life-style; you should try it.

My prediction?  All the County Extension courses are going to have record enrollments this year.  If I weren't so busy growing my own vegetables, keeping chickens, canning fruit, home-schooling my kids, and earning my living on-line, I'd apply to the County Extension office for a teaching position.  I actually know where my Master Food Preserver badge is. 

Nespresso

I need a Nespresso Machineand then I need the barrista (my first-cousin once-removed) to come live with me and make me one every morning because he is just so adorable.



Here is my lovely cousin's lovely blog: Walk Along the Way. She and her Swiss ski instructor and their 4 children and their poodle are moving to Switzerland.

Which reminds me, the last time we visited, when we arrived they were sitting around the dining room table making double helix DNA strands out of pipe cleaners and beads. For real. For science class at our house we make scones and eat them.

16 Years Ago Today . .

. . . my blind-date love-at-first honey proposed.  I call him My Gift From A Generous God.  He routinely takes my car out and fills it with gas for me.  He saved my Dad's life (finding him in the dark and the rain after Dad had felled a tree onto himself).  He is good and kind and faithful. I love him.

bursting my buttons with pride to be related to this one

My dear friend Sonya, curious about homeschooling I suppose, wondered what we were doing for Columbus Day. Would I teach my kids about Columbus as courageous explorer or obnoxious conqueror? Should he be celebrated or despised? What about immigration? Manifest destiny? read the whole article, and find out which of my clever relatives wrote it, over at Psychology Today . . .

a quickie

We are home from a wonderful vacation and back to real life, full of exams and appointments and deadlines.

Jamie has a huge test coming up next week, so he is hunkered down studying for that.

I am teaching two classes at the community college, both on-line, and those classes launch on Thursday, so I am in a hot panic getting those prepped.

Dandy had two assessments today: reading and math. In reading he is precisely at 4th grade level and in math he is between 4th and 5th (ahead of himself, in other words). We are very pleased. Tomorrow I meet with the school for a half-day a week enrollment to work on some behavior issues whilst I continue with the academics at home.

Chickadee starts art classes this week.

The gardens are out-of-control.

The pile of mail is huge.

The car is yet to be unloaded.

That's our life. How is yours?

vacation news

Oh we hare having such a nice vacation. We kayak daily and see seals and herons and dolphins and starfish and kelp and crabs and jellyfish. We swim a lot. We play in playgrounds and waterparks. We sleep well. We wish some of you were here with us.

another quickie

Another 5 minute update:

• The fair was great -- I lasted from 2 til 9 which is quite an accomplishment given my summer. Pics to follow.
• We are busy converting the old creamery into the chickens' winter home.
• The garden is producing well, especially zucchinis and beets. I roast, shred, and freeze the beets for winter borscht.
  
• We are packing for our upcoming vacation on Vancouver Island. Mom and I are going up with the kids. Then mom leaves and bff comes up. Then she leaves and beloved husband comes up. The kids and I are there for two weeks.
• Both kids are really enjoying reading.
  

He is Risen!

Twas a fine Easter celebration at our house. We attended my parents' church where we watched a U2 video to open the service and heard about the minister's new tattoo. Then we came home and served up a feast with the help of my super bil and mom.



After dinner we were treated to some music and then the kids went off to watch the Velveteen Rabbit, and I? I landed in the easy chair and may never get up. We've been cooking and cleaning for days, hard on the heels of a few days of heavy gardening. The house is clean, the fridges are full, and it's going to be too rainy to garden for a few days. Time to rest.

cool people

On my list of cool people are busy professionals who take time to write and send individual Valentine's cards to their very young cousins. When I grow up, I want to be cool like her.

family portrait

Christmas Pics

And here is our holiday, in photos.

Christmas Eve eve blessed us with a visit from the Christmas bunnies. They stayed for dinner and then went on to Gma's house for some decorating.














Christmas eve morning, we gathered together with our cousins on my Dad's side and all their littles. We took lots of pictures, ate lots of yummy food, and enjoyed watching the snowballs fly.


























Christmas morning, we opened presents from Santa at home.


And then enjoyed the view on the drive in to my Mom and Dad's for Christmas dinner with my siblings and nieces.



















Chickadee and I ended up staying over to give my folks a hand in the morning, as their regular care-giver had gone home for the holidays. It was a beautiful snowy happy Christmas.

Oh, and presents? I got many nice prezzies, with my favorites being a hilarious Disappearing Civil Liberties Mug, a long dark green robe, and a beautiful pot from Kuhn-Rikon that my dear husband - bless him - got for me.

Thanks Giving

I meant to take an 'after' picture but I forgot, but this is what seating for 27 looks like, in case you wondered.

We had a merry time. The food was good, if I do say so myself, the designated helpers were efficient, and we gathered around the table only 20 minutes past schedule.

This was the biggest sit-down meal I have ever done. It got a little dicey at the serving up stage, and we all agree that we need a second oven, but it worked.

Nobody spilled anything; only one dried leaf caught on fire from the votives; we had several leftover pies; and plenty of turkey (we did a 22 pound and a 12 pound). Clearly I am blogging this for my own record-keeping, as I'm sure no one is really that interested. 15 pounds of potatoes is not enough. We could easily have eaten 20 pounds and I had wanted to have potato leftovers.

We were especially happy to have a distant cousin (my second third cousin once removed, to be precise) join us as well as Dad's care-giver, whom we all like tremendously and have made an honorary uncle. The new cousin attends our local university and snowboards skies (sorry Jason) and brought his own guitar and played games and we all liked him a lot.

We had a poetry reading from our poet-in-residence, a trek into the 100-acre woods, an impromptu musical interlude, games played in front of the fire, lots of snuggles on the couch, and a great deal of silliness, as usual.

1. pumpkin soup - me
2. spinach rolls - Mom
3. deviled eggs - Harrison & me
4. finger snacks - Uncle Chuck
5. hot cider - Harts
6. mashed potatoes - me
7. brined turkey - me
8. dressing - me
9. squash-squish - Mom
10. creamed onions - Mom
11. black-bean pumpkin casserole - me
12. ambrosia salad - Mom
13. waldorf salad - Greg
14. green bean casserole - Kayti
15. cranberry sauce & relish - Greg
16. rolls - Christy
17. cornbread - me
18. Martinelli's - Aaron
19. wine & good (aka dark) beer
20. apple pies - Aaron & Marina
21. pumpkin pies - Carol
22. gluten-free pumpkin pie - Schmitts
23. pecan pie - me
24. ice cream
25. whipped cream
26. coffee

Tea Fire News

Though the fire burned quite near the pretty little chapel, the chapel did not burn. Here are some good photos of the Westmont campus after the Tea Fire.

I got to talk with my niece a little bit this evening. Her dorm did not burn, though the home of a close friend burned to the ground. He is left with nothing but the clothes he was wearing. How strange it must be to go that quickly from being a person who has stuff to a person that has nothing. Imagine walking out your door and never seeing any of your things again. In a way, it would be a little bit freeing. But in another way I wouldn't much like it.

The book you were reading? Gone.
The comfy bathrobe? Gone.
The groceries in the fridge? Gone.
That end table with the nifty storage? Gone.
Financial records? Gone.
Favorite sweatshirt? Gone.

How unnerving it would be.



:: one year ago today: how to sell on e-bay and biopsy results
:: two years ago today: not quite dead . . .

Santa Barbara Tea Fire: Westmont College

See this pretty little chapel? It's at Westmont College, a pretty little college in Santa Barbara California. My Mom attended Westmont, and now our niece is there too. You have heard about her, actually from her, before: Lakme's Flower Duet.

Alas, according to the news reports, this little chapel is ablaze, as are several residence halls. The students, my niece included, are sheltering-in-place in the concrete gymnasium. My sister has heard from her daughter several times this evening - they expect to spend the night in the gym. Apparently they don't realize that there are fire-fighters on campus and the buildings are burning (including Clark dorm, according to this guy). I hope that my niece merely has to endure a night or two of sleeping in a shelter and then it's back to school as usual.

Independent reporter Chris Meagher is on scene at the main gate of Westmont College in Montecito. Windy conditions are exacerbating the Tea Fire, which authorities say started early this evening in an area north of Westmont in an area known as the Tea Garden. According to Meagher's latest report, the chapel and several residences are on fire at Westmont, it is very windy, and embers are flying around everywhere.

It's such a pity, as it is such a pretty campus and she has been so happy there. My Gift From A Generous God grew up in California. He says that the news reports and pictures always make it look worse then it is. Here's hoping he is right.

update:

Link to map of Westmont campus.

Latest from Westmont:

WILD FIRE AT WESTMONT

Conditions on campus improved to the point where staff were able to get food from the Dining Commons and bring it to the gym, where the community is sheltered in place.

Conditions in the area may make it possible now to leave the campus for a Red Cross shelter, but that option is still being explored.

Firefighters are currently attempting to put out several fires at Clark Hall. Structures lost to or significantly damaged by fire include the Physics Building, the 'old Math" building, Bauder Hall and the Quonset Huts.

Again, we are grateful that no one has been hurt on campus, and everyone is safely in the gymnasium and in good spirits.

And the latest from my sis: beloved niece and friends has been picked up from campus by family member of one of friends and is out of the fire area.

PS. And the pretty photo of the pretty chapel? The credit for that goes to my second cousin, Brad Elliott. uhm, Brad, is it okay if I use your pic?



:: one year ago today: collapsible blogrolls
:: two years ago today: ACK

Kelli's article

If you know us in real life you will know that we have some really interesting people in our family. One of them, Kelli, just got an article published about her work as an intern at the Center for Justice. Go take a look.