Ordinary Time

I saw a reference to a study the other day which declared that women who own horses live, on average, 15 years longer than women without horses. Now, I didn't actually see the study, though the information about it purported that it was a controlled, double-blind study. Who knows? But, I'm going with it. And that's not just because I own horses and I think it sounds good. It's also because I really do think horses are just that good for you. Riding is certainly good exercise and can be very regulating. Horses are calming and good for your mental health. But the thing that I think is key here, is the work that horses require. I've been thinking about this for some time now. While I am not always excited to head out to the barn first thing in the morning to clean stalls, I am finding it to be incredibly good for me. It gets me out of the house and into the outdoors first thing in the morning. On -40 degree mornings, this can be a bit of a shock, but even then I kn...

Along with finding my sewing machine again this week, I also have managed to sit down at my spinning wheel every day. Like the sewing machine, it had been neglected for months. It's too bad, really, because I find sitting and spinning to be very calming. When I started to spin again, after we moved two years ago, it was a pretty steep learning curve. It was just like starting from the beginning, except without a teacher this time around. I gradually have become better at it, but it wasn't quite so natural as it was when I last stopped the first time around. Sometimes seems to have happened over the past few months, as if my brain and muscles finally put all the pieces together again, because when I sat down at the wheel earlier this week, it just felt easy. I found I could sit and spin without the problems I had been encountering... breaking the yarn (a lot), too thick, too thin, too out of control. It finally felt right. I had been thinking about why, and I think I kn...

Something like last Tuesday takes it out of you, but I've found it's a little delayed. Yesterday I was done in, hence no post. Again. Today has been better. I hope we are all back on an even keep, at least for a while. I continue to work to deal with the eggs. My new very large ice cube trays have been fantastic for freezing even large goose eggs. I have been keeping a running cycle of eggs going through the freezer. They look kind of cool when they come out of the ice cube trays. They don't really look much like eggs, do they? I'm thinking we'll be glad for these this winter when every bird decides to stop laying. I also pickled some eggs. This is a bigger experiment, and I have no idea if people will like them. The recipe I followed suggested adding beets to the eggs so that the eggs become even more pink, plus you have pickled beets. L. adores pickled beets, so I know at least those will get eaten. Under the heading of, "It was the best of...

The post I wrote on Monday, left you with the information that R. seemed as though she was about to run off the rails, and I mentioned that I hoped I got to sleep that night. Well. Some things it's just better not to know in advance, I think. Monday night through Tuesday afternoon were one of those things. I was right, R. was headed off the rails, and boy, did she in a big way. If J. and I got any sleep it was probably not more than an hour. R. rarely settled, and instead spent her time trying to get out of our room to go wake everyone up or making random words or sounds come out of her mouth. It was a long night. J. had to get up early (really, it was more like he stopped trying to pretend he was going to get any sleep rather than getting up) to leave to go to a conference, which made me the parent in charge. It was Tuesday, which is our new co-op day. Thankfully, everyone is so excited about going that they are extremely helpful and proactive in gathering everything we need t...

My life is not boring. Usually this is a good thing, but sometimes too much not boring stuff going on just feels, well, too much. I really think I'd like to try boring out for a few weeks. I think I could make it work. Instead... Please keep my mom in your prayers. She is really struggling right now. Sorry to be vague with the details but I really do try to give the gift of privacy to the adults in my life. But do pray. I'm deciding if this warrants another emergency trip to Arizona. Also, R. was helping me in the kitchen this evening when the next thing I know is she is flat on her back having a tonic-clonic seizure. This is the first one I can think of where she didn't complain of an aura before hand. That makes this very different. She now seems to be heading quickly towards one of her psychotic nights as well, which pretty much means zero sleep for me and J. The small sliver of rational brain I have left at this time of night finds this interesting, making the conne...

We had a day at home doing house stuff... bills, laundry, J. did some more painting in the kitchen, I think some Saturday jobs got done. Hardly worth writing too much about. So, instead I will show you a couple of goofy dog pictures to brighten up you Saturday evening. On Friday, A. and L. took Olive to the dog park. L. and Olive We are all amazed she can actually fit that tongue inside her mouth.

A couple of weeks ago, D. was grinding some corn for me so we had some cornmeal. I was in another room when I hear a dreadful sound, a shout from D., and the grain mill being turned off. This couldn't be good. From the burning smell in the kitchen, it would seem that the motor burned out on the grain mill. Life without a grain mill is challenging if you are used to having homemade bread made from the pounds of wheat berries you have on hand. It is difficult to turn your wheat berries into flour without some way to grind it. I've always thought that investing in a hand mill to grind the wheat would be a good idea, you know, just in case of the zombie apocalypse. They're aren't even that expensive... under $100... it's just that the need never quite seemed pressing enough to actually order it. I kind of wish I had, because then we would have some way to grind wheat while we are without the electric mill. All is not lost, though. This is actually the second time (o...