Now I also have to figure out how to get a photo ID in less than two weeks, since Tony decided at the last minute to put my name on the Title and photo ID is required for that. Yikes!
We have slept at the hotel 16 nights so far. Closing for the new house is in 14 days. After some discussion we have decided that if the old house isn't livable by the time we close on the new house, we are going to split up for a while. The kids will stay with my parents so they can finish off the school year with their friends, while #5 and I (and the animals) will move in to the new house. Tony will float in between, likely staying with the kids when he's got work, and using his days off to move more stuff out of the old house. We suspect the insurance will not pay for hotel stay if we have another property available to us. This way in June when the kids finish out their school, we can all be reunited in the new house and start over and get used to the new surroundings. Tonight I finally braved taking Moose to the pool. The kids were running through the hotel room, bouncing off the walls. They needed an outlet for all that energy. One hour at the pool, showers for everyone, and at least one is already in bed with two to follow soon. I'll take that for a win. Poor #2 has an infected tooth again. He's back on antibiotics and is scheduled to have the offending tooth pulled on Tuesday. In the meantime half of his face is swelled up like a manatee. Fortunately the dentist is prompt and we will have a permanent solution as soon as the antibiotics knock out the infection. Just seems like one more shin kick in a several-week-run of bad luck for our entire family.
Now I also have to figure out how to get a photo ID in less than two weeks, since Tony decided at the last minute to put my name on the Title and photo ID is required for that. Yikes! Still sick today. My sinuses are causing a sore throat. Yuck. I drank a big cup of orange juice this morning in hopes the vitamin C boost would help me out. I plan to do the same again tomorrow.
Today has been cloudy and warm, but I've been largely trapped in the hotel. Tomorrow it's supposed to rain (80% chance), so we're planning our weekly dinner with my parents for Thursday when it's supposed to be dry and warm. Hopefully it will give the kids the opportunity to run around and play outside. Still no word from anyone ... old house, new house, clean up, reimbursement. We're just hanging out in the meantime. Today was less stressful than yesterday. Tomorrow Tony gets off work early (scheduled until noon, but that doesn't mean he'll be able to get off at noon). An additional parent on board for wrangling #2 to do schoolwork, and to help with after school snacks for the girls, and making dinner decisions. Maybe he can even get the kids quiet for a while so I can take a nap or at least rest quietly. Today was also World Naked Gardening Day. Did you garden in the nude today? I may have cheated a little. Stuck in a hotel room with my two sons, I grabbed some of the plants from the window and took them to the bathroom where I watered them before jumping in the shower. Technically that's naked gardening, right? 17 days until closing. My newest idea for the homestead... Bee and butterfly waterers! I've heard of these before, where a shallow dish with rocks or sand is filled with water. Then bees, butterflies, and other bugs can come and get a drink of water without drowning. In a related idea, running water on a shallow surface can be used to attract hummingbirds too. I'm not sure how I'd get that setup just yet, but it's an idea I'll tuck away for future investigation. For right now I'm thinking maybe an in-tank water filter (like the kind we have in the turtle tank), buried in rocks in a slightly deeper container with water. I think the rocks above the surface will work the same as the shallower plane for the insect waterer, and the filter will keep the water clean and moving. I wonder if I make the dish wide enough if it could function as both the moving waterer for the hummingbirds near the filter spout, and the still waterer for the insects on the farther side where the water wouldn't be moving (as much). I'm sure some trial and error will give good answers. Minnow is doing as well as can be expected. She did eat one or two goldfish and some pellet food. I cleaned out her water today and cleaned up the filter a little, leaving some "stuff" on the filter to keep the good bacteria in there. She doesn't seem particularly pleased with her much smaller apartment. If we can't get a replacement stand for her tank at home, she'll just have to be on the ground in the new "apartment" until we can get her another one. Worst case scenario, she may have to be in the 55-gallon on the floor at the new house instead of up on a stand. We'll just have to make it work somehow. Either way, she will get back into her big tank when we move to the new house. The tiny accommodations are definitely temporary. I do feel bad that the current tub isn't deep enough for her to actually swim in. She does enjoy swimming. It'll be especially nice for her when she is reunited with her real home. For size reference, Minnow was something like 7-9 inches long last time I measured her. She is a pretty big girl, but she hasn't grown any for several years now, so I suspect she's as big as she will get. The consequences of being kept in a tank too small for her when she was younger. We've had her since 2009 when we inherited her from my husband's brother who no longer wanted her. He kept her in a 15 or 20 gallon aquarium for the several years she stayed with him (she was only 4-inches across when he bought her at a pet store). When we took her in, we immediately put her into the 55 gallon she's been living in ever since.
Graphic photo warning, for those who are squeamish of blood or injuries, the photo below is not for you. The kids took Tony down to the pool today (yes, not the other way around). It didn't last very long before #2 brought #5 back to the room with a big scrape on his foot. I guess he'd gone down a kiddie slide with #1 and his foot somehow got under her leg when they hit the bottom, scraping his foot against the bottom of the pool. Poor little guy. I put him in the tub and rinsed him off to get the chlorine off, then put some antiseptic on before drying him off and getting antibiotic cream and some band aids on him. He's such a trooper, he wanted to go back down to the pool! Unfortunately, I don't find public pools to be entirely sanitary and told him he'd have to wait for his skin to heal, or get some of the liquid bandage stuff on (which burns on application). He opted to stay in the room. Within about an hour he was back up and running like nothing had happened. He's pretty tough for just being three. I had trouble sleeping last night. At some point in the night my right ear started hurting bad enough to wake me up a few times. By morning it was a constant pain. Tony suggested putting some tea tree oil in there to see if it helped. Instead of helping to dull the pain, it started to feel like it was burning. When I poured it out of my ear it seemed to hurt even worse. I ended up falling back asleep with shivers, feeling very cold, but not running a fever. I awoke a few hours later, ear still burning inside, and decided perhaps a shower would help. It really didn't help a lot, but maybe took the pain from burning to uncomfortable. By dinner time that ear hurt constantly and started to sound muffled. By 9:30pm I finally gave up and took some pain meds (ibuprofen). This is the first time I've taken any kind of pain meds since January 1st when I finished my last bout with the pain crisis from last year. It's still muffled in that ear and it definitely hurts to touch it, but if I just sit still and keep all pressure off of it, it's just a dull ache and muffled sound now. I suspect a trip to Urgent Care is in my future tomorrow. Today I had a friend and her daughter stop by. They were kind enough to pick up #1 after her club meeting after school today. It was nice to talk to her. Adult conversation can mean so much more when you're with kids all day every day. Then we invited my parents over this evening. We played some SkipBo and chatted a bit. It's nice to get to invite them over to "our place" once in awhile, even if it's a hotel room for now. Moose had been doing well in his duty as Service Dog. Unfortunately, I think that perhaps he, like Nadia before him, has picked up on something else about people that even I can't explain. Moose is the most friendly dog. He loves kids and people, other dogs, he's curious about everything. He was very well socialized as a pup, even visiting the Renaissance Fair in his "in training" vest (goodness it's so tiny, he was so little). But so far in our stay at the hotel, he has run into a couple of people he didn't like. The first housekeeper to come in on the very first morning, he wouldn't stop barking at her. I thought that it might be because he wasn't used to random strangers coming into our home, and despite putting his vest on him (wearing the vest means he has different rules to abide by - no barking, no eating, no getting up on furniture, etc.), and keeping him on the leash at the far end of the room, he distinctly did not like her - and I don't know why. All subsequent housekeeping staff have been met with a single woof of acknowledgement, a sniff, tail wags, and kisses. Likewise, fellow hotel patrons are met with the same greeting woof, and if they're close enough, he sniffs them and then is fine. But this morning when we got into the elevator, two men got on with us. The first man was greeted with his customary woof, but when the second man boarded the elevator, Moose changed completely. His stance changed to slightly hunched down, leaning against my leg, the fur above his shoulders stood up, he barked once and then growled at the man the entire elevator ride, despite me trying to get him to stop. I've never seen him growl at anyone before this except that first housekeeper and that was more of a whine. I wonder what he's sensing that I'm not. Nadia used to have strange responses to people sometimes. She was always the friendliest dog, she loved everyone. But sometimes around certain people, she would avoid them, refuse to go near them, cower, or cringe away from their touch. It wasn't until she had responded this way to several people while I had her at work with me over several weeks time that a coworker pointed out that she only did this with people who looked or smelled stoned, or had pot in their purse or pockets. She was responding to marijuana! I had no idea, since I don't use drugs and don't associate with people who do (I'm clueless). It made me wonder what her previous home was like that after years of love and training, she was still terrified of that smell. I wonder now if Moose is picking up on something similar. There must be some reason for his sudden change in behavior toward certain people. It's certainly not very good for a dog trained to be a service animal to be growling at people, and I can't have him growling at people, regardless of why he's doing it. I'm not sure how to avoid the behavior. With Nadia we would just walk a different way or stay away from those people that she found to be scary. But what do you do with a dog who growls at people? This guy in the elevator, he wouldn't go over and sniff him like he usually does - he was adamantly distrusting and showing body language I've not seen him do before. A fear response perhaps, trying to be bold to intimidate someone he's scared of? I'm not sure, but it's got to stop. Anyway, this ear issue I think has been going on for a while. I've been feeling a little off balance lately. Kind of like the feeling when the elevator stops and you feel for an instant like you're still moving. Or that hesitation when you have to recalibrate your movement and balance when you step off of an escalator. I've been having these moments sporadically for several days now. A sure sign of inner ear troubles. This photo of Moose makes him look so tiny, but he's a big boy. I'd like to get him weighed to get an exact number, but I'm guessing he's over 75 pounds, my mom suggested closer to 90 pounds. His vest is a size Large and is at the biggest settings. Nadia wore the same vest but it was on slightly smaller settings for her.
I'm really proud of Moose. He came to me a (literally) broken little puppy, and he's become such a handsome and very helpful dog. He's so intuitive. I feel like he was really just meant to be with our family. We're so lucky to have him. He has proven to be immensely and incalculably valuable during some stressful events with six Aspergians. His closest bonds seem to be with me, #3 and #5. He can read us like a book and knows just when we need him. It barely got above freezing today. I was at the house about 10am to feed and water bunnies. The tarps were frozen stiff, what water was left in their bowls was frozen, and there were icicles hanging off the bunny barn. Brrrr! I did see movement in Charlotte's nest box, but didn't dare dig through the box to check further. I did not check in Gretchen's box. I did add straw to Alice's nest box space, and a nest box with pine shavings and straw into Snowflake's cage. They're both due around the 29th. Of course, this cold snap and my inability to check their cages multiple times throughout the day to warm kits may mean two more lost litters in this cold snap. Both have lost a litter due to the cold previously. This should have been good planning with litters due the end of April into May, but this is just poor weather at just the wrong time. I'm hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst. Both of these litters should be George's. No word on either house... No idea when our current house will be repaired so we can go home, and no word on the new house or how the mortgage company is doing with their inspections and such. I guess we're really just waiting now on both ends. If push comes to shove, the close date on the new house is 22 days away, which is only two weeks before the last day of school for the girls (and three weeks before the last day of school for #2 who is schooled online). That's not too much of an overlap before we can get moved into the new place and put this flooding mess behind us one way or another. What a day! Here are some updates!
This morning we got kids up earlier than normal so we could take advantage of the free continental breakfast before the girls went off to school. Fortunately Tony had the day off so he was able to bring them to school. I called the school transportation office while Tony was bringing the girls to school and left a message. My Mom came by at 11am with the pizza we left at her house yesterday, some leftover "scalpt tayties n ham" from yesterday, and some necessities like paper towels, paper plates, plastic utensils, and plastic cups. Tony ran to the bank to get the check for the home inspection, and we were off to the new house to see what the inspector had to say. Tony and I sat down with the inspector, who was prepared with digital photos and a computerized written up report. As anticipated, there's some drywall issues, some stained ceiling tiles from a previous leak, a chipped laminated tile in the kitchen, and the smoke detectors are not working. Then there are a few surprises. The siding needs to be replaced at some point, the electrical was installed incorrectly upstairs (but can be fixed with new outlet covers?), the gas line into the stove is missing the valve to shut it off from the inside, there's some water issues in the crawl space under the bathroom allowing the insulation to sag (it needs a moisture barrier), and there is a mouse problem in the house. The two big things though that he found were the roof and the support under the living room. The roof is missing several shingles, almost all of the gutters are missing, causing further damage to the fascia and siding. He strongly advised it be replaced, but said in a pinch it could be spot-repaired for the short term. When they built the house they built it a little funny. Under the crawl space below the living room you can see there is a long 2x4 held up by stacked bricks that was used as a support underneath the floor. He said this has caused sagging over the years, which is why the rest of the house has cracks all over the walls and ceilings, why the floors throughout the house are tilted and uneven, and why the door to one of the upstairs bedrooms will not close (the door frame is too far off due to the uneven floor). For this he said the damage has already been done. It's happened over many years and isn't likely to get any worse. He also said it would probably end up costing more than the house was worth and causing more problems to try to correct it now. It is just part of the charm of an old farmhouse now. The pump is good, the well is fine, the heater is old but works. The big patch of daylilies in the back yard is actually covering a big door. My mom pointed it out, the inspector hadn't seen it but suggested it was probably an old cistern. It might be neat to check it out, but probably safer to keep it covered and planted over. I found a patch of chives growing behind one of the outbuildings, and a patch of the beautiful purple siberica flowers like we have in our side garden in our current home. The yard has random tulips coming up where the big flower patch was last August - someone had mowed the whole thing down since. I hope they don't mow it again so the flowers will come back up! The one smaller outbuilding has a couple of very old desks in it and some work space. The drawers of the desks are full of mouse nests, and one had a dead mouse in it. It's going to take some cleaning, and I think having a barn cat is going to be a good idea. We will need to scrape and repaint the entryway, replace fascia and gutters, put up screen in the porch, take care of the mouse problem, replace some carpeting that's coming up, fix the three big holes in the drywall, repair some peeling paint, and get a moisture barrier into the crawl spaces. The siding will have to wait until next year. The one cracked window will be fine for now. We came back to the hotel and had lunch with my mom before heading back out to pick up girls from school, do some shopping for basics (a bag of apples, swim trunks for #2, shoes for #5, work pants and shoes for Tony), and swing by home to feed and water the rabbits and the cats. Turns out neither of us remembered to call the girls' school, and despite trying to explain the situation to the teachers, the girls were sent home on the bus anyway. Glad I happened to be home working on rabbit chores and Tony had the day off! I emailed the school this evening to let them know what was going on. I also called the transportation lady again and finally talked with her. Tony will be dropping girls off at school in the morning, but he works from then on. Transportation lady assured me that she would get them back to the hotel after school tomorrow somehow, and have something a little more structured in place by Monday. I sure hope so. Now I'm worried they'll end up on the wrong bus, or not know which bus to get on, or when to get off, or they'll end up back at the house. And if they get off at the wrong stop, or get on the wrong bus, I will have no way of knowing, since I have no idea of timeframe of when to expect them. Add in that only #1 is allowed to have a cell phone in school - that means that #3 and #4 (who go to a different school than #1) have no contact with me and will only have what the staff there tell them when making the journey back tomorrow. I worry because we're all on the spectrum - and change is hard... But sudden change like this can be catastrophic. I'm having anxiety attacks about it now, #1 is worried, but has her phone so I can call her or text her to let her know what's going on. I think we will have #3 sneak her phone to school and keep it in her backpack so I can text her the information too just to be sure they all end up safely back at the hotel. It's going to be a very long weekend with five kids penned up in a tiny space where they aren't allowed to run or shout or wrestle or play loudly. Fortunately there are three televisions, a computer, and a handheld game plus two card games (Cribbage and SkipBo) between the two rooms. I hate having them all veg out in front of screens, but I don't see much option with Tony working full time for the next eight days. All baby bunnies are doing well. I feel bad for the cats as they are trapped in the house with the nasty smell of septic - but I have nowhere else for them to go. At least they are contained upstairs away from the sludge in the basement. No word from the insurance today so I'm not sure when we'll get someone in there to clean the basement. We have 29 days left until closing on the new house. Happy Easter to those who celebrate this holiday! We had lots of fun finding eggs at Grandma's house this year. The Easter Bunny really did a good job at hiding eggs where it was fun for #5 to participate, but it was also a challenge for #1 and #2 to find some. We had a delicious ham dinner. Unfortunately #3 is feeling under the weather. #1 was out of school all last week with what appear to be the flu - which Tony just got over too. Now it's #3's turn. Yuck! No fun! I hope I don't get it too. I've only gotten the flu once in my life and that's one time more than I needed. Tonight #5 came out to help me with rabbit chores. We had strawberry tops left over from dinner, so bunnies got snacks tonight (their Easter treat). He's getting pretty good at pouring the food into the food bins with minimal spilling. What a big helper! When we got to Penelope's cage, he filled the food bin, then opened up the nest box, climbed up, reached in, and picked up little Jenna. He grabbed her out of the nest box, climbed down, and stood there holding her and giving her kisses and petting her. She was so calm, she didn't kick or squirm, she just let him love on her. It was great! Grandma bought the kids a little bubble machine. The younger kids love it! Despite having a long driveway, the bubbles were carried gently on the breeze around the house, down the driveway, across the front yard, with a few making it all the way to the road. I'm sure anyone driving by was probably wondering "Was that a bubble? I swear I just saw a bubble..." We left the bubble maker at Grandma's house. We brought the sidewalk chalk home instead. They won't be able to use the sidewalk chalk as much once we move, since it's just the front steps at the new house that are cement (long dirt driveway).
I sanitized all of the jugs and containers that have been collecting in the house awaiting my last run on winter sowing. I'd been largely putting it off as the current containers are about all our current space will allow. But now that we are on the cusp of the big move, I've decided to put more containers out. This means we can do more tomatoes, a couple of the neat pumpkins the kids found in the seed stash, more herbs (did I plant summer savory?), and a few other things. I have a total of 26 containers drying in the bathroom. I'm baffled at how much space they take up, and how it didn't seem like they took up so much space when they were here and there around the house. Hopefully tomorrow several will be joining the containers outside. The limiting factor will be the soil. I've got one partially used bag left, and Tony works a 12-hour shift tomorrow so he won't be able to get me more until bedtime. Today Tony touched base with the home inspector we chose. He said we'll plan for next Thursday for an inspection and that he would do a little research on the property and get back to Tony tomorrow morning. The loan guy called Tony today too and asked for a call back, but Tony worked close, so didn't get to call him. Phone calls will be made tomorrow morning to get things figured out. So many things to do. Tony has this weekend off, the girls have a 4-day weekend, so it seems a good time to start formally packing up. This is such a foreign concept to me, I'm still trying to wrap my brain around putting all of our belongings into boxes, sorted by room, stacking them all into a UHaul, and driving them to the new house to be unpacked. Tony seems to want to do it all in one run, but I don't think that's going to happen. Especially considering we have a playset and the rabbit barn and all of the rabbits and their cages... That's at least one full load to haul right there. I keep thinking about the logistics of it all. The bigger stuff - book shelves and beds, dressers and chairs, the kitchen table and L-shaped bench seat, the turtle tank (a 55-gallon aquarium with aquaponics set up on top), the 29-gallon fish aquarium, and the stands for both, the computer desks, the shelving units, the vanity (which has no place in the new house, but I don't want to get rid of it either). It seems from the perspective of packing, it would be easier to pack up all the small stuff first and then load up the furniture and big stuff last. But from the perspective of unpacking, it would seem that the big stuff should really be moved in and set up first. This would work if it was all in one load because the last things in would be the first things out of the moving truck... but if it doesn't all fit you end up with a truckload of boxes of stuff that you have to unload to go back to get the big stuff. And this is when my Asperger's really kicks in and I start doing "the hamster wheel" where my mind is going and I don't get anywhere. I really need a written itinerary of everything that needs to be done. We need to pack up the books in order to ready the shelves for moving. We need to lower the water level in the fish and turtle tanks. We need to start packing up the clothes we won't need right away. At what point do I take my framed art off the wall? I mean I don't want to feel like I'm living out of boxes, tripping over them throughout the house as they stack up, but I don't want to put things off too long and be scrambling (though I suspect that's what will happen). On the plus side, I do intend to use the moving boxes as the base for my Back To Eden garden plans. Enough boxes to move an entire household should be plenty to start a garden I should think. The problem will be having enough compost and manure to fill it all. The rabbits only produce so much, and I doubt Tony will want to spend the time to bag it all up and move it with us... That seems a little silly (from his perspective) though I think it's perfectly reasonable. Today I also looked up and emailed the beekeepers society for the county we will be moving too. I'm hoping to find a beekeeper willing to provide a hive and maintenance in exchange for a safe chemical-free space for their bees to pollinate. There are several flowers on the property already. The listing photos show a patch of daylilies in the backyard, but when we were there in August the entire front yard was a giant patch of wildflowers and planted flowers that were pretty much taking over the entire yard. I'm not against this and have no plan to mow it. Why ruin what's already a successful flower patch? I wish I'd have snapped a photo of it then, it was beautiful. I'll have to take photos this summer when they all come back. I can only imagine the amazing insect and floral photos I can take with a colorful collection of flowers like that right outside the living room window!
Today the property officially got changed from "for sale" to "active contingent." I keep looking at the listing photos. This place just feels like "home" to me and I'm beyond excited to move in and start the next chapter of our lives. I have so many ideas that my head is spinning. But more than anything, I'm just thrilled to find such a beautiful place. I love the little farm house. I realize it's fairly small for our large family right now, but on a realistic note, #1 is 15, and #2 is 13 - it won't be long until they're both graduating high school and wanting to move out. As quickly as we filled our nest, it will eventually empty too. And once several of the kids have moved on and started their adult lives, the house will remain a manageable size for us over the years. I can't help but feel like this home is where I want to grow old. Tony went in at 8:00am today before work and signed the offer to make everything official. The real estate agent emailed him at 8:44am to let him know the offer had been submitted to the seller's agent. Just after 7pm she texted to let us know that the offer had been forwarded on to the sellers, but because there are three owners and they all work, they (our real estate agent and theirs) anticipate hearing back tomorrow. Tomorrow the girls have an "early out" day, #2 is on his spring break, and Tony gets off early. We're planning dinner at my parents' house. It would be a joyous celebration if we get good news. Here's hoping! I try to handle the baby bunnies a little every day. Some days when I have more time, I pick each one up and handle it one-on-one for a while. When I'm short on time I will put my hand in the nest box and make sure I love on each one. I check their weight, make sure they're not thin and they look to be in good health. Today I was a little surprised though. As I moved my hand through the nest box, checking each baby in turn, the little solid colored one kept following my hand and licking my fingers. What a sweetheart!
It's also becoming clear that one of our tricolors is red/black, and the other is fawn/blue. This is quite apparent when they're next to each other (see above). Tony wasn't feeling well today, #2 went off to Grandma's house, and #3 is at a friend's house, I can't eat eggs or cheese... So with just #1, #4, and #5 eating, we went through nearly a dozen and a half eggs today! Whoa! But by all accounts they were delicious. I added some havarti cheese and some bacon crumbles, then cooked them one serving at a time. We didn't get a lot done today. No news on the house. Bunnies are doing well. It rained lightly for a while today, and I checked on the winter sown containers and added some water to a couple of them that didn't seem to have enough condensation. I'm hoping we see some growth soon!
Today when the girls got home from school, #3 asked if we could go outside to see the space station go by. Her teacher told her it would appear around 8:50pm and would go from the Southwest to the Northeast in a matter of about five minutes. So we went out at 8:50 and looked to the sky. At first we weren't sure what to look for, until we saw it! I know the photos aren't much, but it was pretty neat to see it cruising past the stars. We waved. I made a modification of the same old chicken and rice dish I've come to lean on. This time I made one pan with basil and one pan with thyme to see which the kids preferred. Votes were split. #1 and #4 preferred the basil, #3 and I preferred the thyme, and #2 and #5 didn't seem to care. There was one chicken piece left from the basil, and some rice from both pans left for Tony when he comes home tonight. I have decided to call the thyme variation "Thyme Lord Chicken" - a play on Time Lord (Doctor Who reference). To make Thyme Lord Chicken for your Whovians, follow the recipe, except replace the paprika with thyme. We doubled the thyme (1 teaspoon instead of 1/2) and it was a little much, but still very good. I also added some on top of the chicken, in addition to the 1 teaspoon that was mixed in with the rice. I decided to pair up a couple more rabbits today too. I attempted Elizabeth and Fabio, but Elizabeth wasn't cooperating. I put Hazel in with Fabio, but she wasn't having any part of it either (a good sign that her previous breeding to Hodor took and she is likely pregnant). Then I put Snowflake with George, followed by Alice with George. Both were witnessed breedings, so we should be getting New Zealand/Californian, and Californian/Flemish/New Zealand babies around April 29th. I will update the rabbits page. I'm still not done winter sowing, but I haven't gotten around to doing much as I await news on where I might be gardening this year. I snapped a cute photo today of Moose (Aspie) sitting next to the containers. I've got to work with him on leaving the rabbits alone. He gets too excited and wants to chase them. He doesn't seem interested in biting or being aggressive, he just wants to catch them and then sniff and lick them. I will hopefully use some of Penelope's babies to get him to understand he has to leave them alone. The baby bunnies seem to take his kisses a little better than the adult rabbits.
I've been doing all kinds of research on chickens, which lead me to ducks. Indian Runner Ducks appear to be fairly low maintenance. They don't fly, they mind fences, they eat flies and slugs and bugs, and they can walk right in the garden and won't hurt the plants (except they may trample seedlings, but a temporary fence should prevent that). Add in that duck manure, like rabbit manure, is usable immediately and does not need to be composted. From what I understand so far, they do not need open water like some other breeds of duck to clean out their noses, which would help in the winter months. They're also cold-hardy, which means fewer losses over the cold months. And they lay eggs, supposedly more than some chickens. They don't require a roost or a big coop, so if I can manage to get a hold of two or three, they'd keep our yard and garden fertilized and take care of bugs for us. Coupled with the bird and bat houses and bird feeders, I think ducks might be a better option than chickens. More research is needed. Which brings me to our housing status. Tony talked to the loan officer again today and let him know we did want to put in an offer on the house. Tony called the realtor on his way to work to make the offer official. She said she needed to talk to the loan guy and then would get the paperwork written up. We have not heard anything since then (noon), so I'm not sure if our offer has been presented to the current property owners yet. Tony works a 12 hour day tomorrow, so if the realtor calls, (he's the main contact point), things could be delayed. I did hear back from the DNR about the property. Actually I got several responses as my initial email was shared to the appropriate groups that may have more information. It turns out that the waterfowl refuge includes the whole lake, but really just means that you can't hunt waterfowl. That's not an issue for us anyway since we don't hunt. There would be no restrictions on livestock (we could keep ducks and geese), there are no regulations against putting in a dock, fishing, or even having a boat - though I think things like that would be waaaaaay down the road and not even on our radar right now. Fishing, sure, but a dock and a boat are added expenses that we just can't do right now. I'm more focused on gardens, growing our own food, preserving said food, and using natural means to help us be more self-sustaining (ducks to eat our pests). I guess the DNR does not actively monitor this particular lake, having only been there to survey it twice - once in 1965, and again in 2011. The only downside is that they classify it as "nutrient dense" and there was blue-green algae when they were there in 2011. Blue-green algae is the type of bloom that can actually kill dogs and people if they swim in it or drink the water. Yikes! Given the aerial image attached to the response, it looks like the algae bloom was on the other side of the lake, but it's still something that we need to be aware of. They also warned us that the lake is very shallow (just 7 feet deep at the deepest point), which means it likely freezes solid over winter, so no fish can be supported in it year round, but that some fish do come in through the creek that runs through it. During their 2011 survey they reported seeing minnows and bullheads. A quick Google search tells me that bullheads are edible, but they have no scales - instead their body is covered in tastebuds... Um... Eww. That's a little disgusting. Anyway, that same survey also reported a pair of trumpeter swans were present on the lake. That's awesome! It would be so neat to see all the ducks and geese and other birds that make the area their home. Things that you don't see often elsewhere. They seem to know it's a safe spot where they won't be bothered. Anyway, it sounds like an absolute sanctuary, not just for birds, but for people who just want a quiet place away from the fast-paced world. It's absolutely perfect for my Educational Farm plan. I'm hoping and praying really hard that they accept our offer and that everything lines up. This property has been calling to me for months, it's been languishing on the market for over a year and a half, almost as if it's just been waiting for us. I'm really getting my hopes up here. I've finally found a place that feels like home, and I'm desperate not to let it slip through my fingers if I can avoid it. Today was supposed to be the day that Tony spoke to the loan officer to wrap up loose ends and confirm our pre-approval, and then he was supposed to call the real estate agent to put in an offer on the house. But then life happened. As Tony was finishing up his phone call with the loan officer, #2 came into the room. He's complained of a toothache for two days, and this morning he woke up with the entire left side of his face swollen. Not just a little swollen either. As in, I think his skin would break if it was stretched any tighter. His eye was swollen half shut, half of his lips were swollen, he looked like he'd been beaten, except he wasn't bruised. He assured me that his sinuses and throat were not affected and he could breathe fine. He even said his pain level was down from yesterday, but he was having trouble opening his mouth (to speak, and later when attempting to eat). As always, the kids come first. We spent the rest of the morning calling the insurance company (despite numerous requests we still do not have dental cards, so we had to get the insurance numbers in order to make an appointment), then looking up and calling the dental offices on our list of approved providers, and waiting for a callback or two. We are incredibly fortunate that one of the dental providers was able to slip us in today. We've had a few dental emergencies in the past and have found it absolutely impossible to get in to see anyone within the same week or sometimes even the same month! Several times it was because nobody would accept our insurance (despite being listed as approved providers). A couple times it was due to scheduling issues, but this time we struck gold with getting in the same day for poor #2, and hopefully a dentist visit will cost less than an emergency room visit. Anyway, he'll be on antibiotics for a week, and then we need to decide if we want to pull the tooth ($200, but someone once told me that pulled teeth need spacers or replacements to prevent other teeth where they're supposed to be - the dentist did not mention this though), or have a root canal ($2000, permanent fix, but a root canal effectively kills the tooth, and there have been a few researchers who suggest that keeping dead teeth in can lead to systemic and long-term health issues decades down the road). I feel this requires more research in the coming days to make an informed decision. So, after all of that excitement it was already past 4pm, and I had thought up a couple more questions for the loan guy, so Tony left him a message and we awaited a reply (which didn't come, as it was the end of the day). I guess he told Tony this morning to talk to him before putting an offer in (not sure why Tony didn't say something then), so we couldn't put in a formal offer on the house. Instead, Tony sent an email to the real estate agent just after 5pm to inform her that we wanted to put in an offer on the house, but needed to speak to the loan officer one more time first. He even let her know that he's planning to contact the loan officer in the morning, and follow up by calling her to make it official. He gave her his work schedule for the next three days so they could further coordinate contact. She replied right away and said she'd get started on the paperwork and wait to hear back from us tomorrow! I noticed yesterday's rant about the price of chickens, and today's post about dental care have left my blog pictureless, so I'm throwing in this photo of a handmade glass deer that I inherited many years ago. I can't remember if it came from my Grandma who got it from my Auntie, or if I got it from my Auntie when she passed away. My brain is getting old, and I admittedly had to wipe copious amounts of dust off of it to take the photo. Still, it's a cute little piece, and so fragile that I'm always afraid I'll break it (probably why it's been tucked away gathering dust for so many years). We used this photo as part of #1's project the other day as an example of "folk art" (ie something traditional, handed down through generations, skilled work not often specialized in now).
Today I experimented with my own recipe for the bread machine. I followed the basics for white bread (using 1-1/2 cups of water), but added 1 Tbsp garlic powder, 1 Tbsp oregano, 2 Tbsp basil, 1 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese, and 1/4 cup bacon crumbles. I will call this one "Italian Pig Bread." At first I thought maybe I'd added too much garlic. As soon as it started mixing, you could smell the garlic from the machine. When it baked, it made the entire room smell like pizza. But upon taste test, it's actually really nice. It does smell like pizza, and I would like to try this recipe again in the summer and add some diced tomatoes from our garden in the mix to give it a bit more of a pizza flavor (and maybe make the bread turn tomato red). I also think perhaps it could use more cheese and bacon. But the smell... Oh goodness, it smells so good! This may be a new family favorite! I want to make it again and share with my parents and my brother to see what they think. #2 is not impressed with it, but he's the only one who didn't care for it, and he couldn't tell me why he didn't like it. Perhaps he wasn't in the mood for pizza scented Italian bread. Perhaps he's not a fan of garlic. He seemed upset that I used store-bought basil instead of our home-grown purple basil that we dehydrated last fall. Perhaps next round I'll make it with our organic basil. Upon closer inspection, it looks like we have two harlequins (one regular, one black), three broken tricolors (one just has almost no black), and one red (I thought it could be a torte, but it's looking more solid red now - we'll have to wait and see). They're all well fed and warm, so Penelope is doing a great job, as usual. I took some of them out of the box to peek at them today. They're cute little popcorn babies. I do love baby bunnies.
At the request of #2, today I made another loaf of bread. I couldn't seem to find the right ingredients for any of the special recipes in the book, so I tried my own. I added 3 heaping tablespoons of taco seasoning to the mix and called it Taco Bread. It smelled nice. But just before the machine started to bake it, little #5 opened it up, and the loaf sunk down. As a result this loaf was very dense, about half the size it should have been, and thick, with some spots still pretty doughy after it was done cooking. It did manage to color the bread a golden brown throughout, but the flavor was still lacking. I thought for sure 3 tablespoons would be overdoing it and we'd all be gagging on flavor... Alas, another failure. I will try again, and I will use even more flavor until I get a nice loaf of bread that can easily be identified by flavor and scent. My brother suggested lemon next. I have some organic lemon juice on hand, perhaps I could give it a try. Elsa is still hanging in there. It's still getting pretty cold out at night, and I find her huddled up in her nest box in the mornings, trying to keep warm. I feel bad for her, but I'm doing everything I can to offer her the best protection (short of keeping her indoors).
Today we had dinner at my parents' house and we got to see both of the bunnies that live there (Coleson and Loosey). They are both obviously doing well. Coleson is huge! They're well fed, and my mom goes out into the yard to make sure they have fresh hay and clean water every day, despite the fact that they are free range and can probably find food and water themselves. Penelope still has a nice warm nest with wriggling babies in there. Today I took a quick peek, but it's still too cold to actually dig through the nest to check out the colors and get a head count. From today's quick peek I can confirm that we do have one black harlequin, one regular harlequin, and at least one white with light colored spots, with one or two more light colored ones that I didn't get to see any better. It's supposed to warm up in the next few days so hopefully I can find a nice sunny day and take a longer peek through the nest. I won't risk their safety though, so if it's not warm enough, they'll remain a mystery. Today I was also able to get a few more things listed on eBay. I found an ashtray that's been in our junk drawer since we moved in back in 2003... It came with the house, and despite the fact that nobody here smokes, for whatever reason, it never got thrown out. So that's on eBay now. So are a few of #5's old clothes, a book I found while cleaning that's written in German (we don't read German), as well as some other stuff I re-listed that has been posted before. If anyone is interested, our eBay listings can be found HERE. Every purchase helps fund our family on our journey toward homesteading.
I know I've mentioned a few times before about getting to test this really neat new cookbook, and I've been short on details (on purpose). Today our entire family (well, everyone but #5) made "Quickles" - an easy pickle recipe that doesn't require canning (it isn't shelf stable, but we go through food fast enough it shouldn't be an issue).
Here are the recipes we made today: #1 made cucumbers with garlic and red wine vinegar. #2 made pickled watermelon rind with black peppercorns and red wine vinegar. #3 made pickled cherry tomatoes with cloves and distilled white vinegar. #4 made pickled green beans with whole allspice and white wine vinegar. Tony made pickled cauliflower with mustard seeds and apple cider vinegar. I made pickled carrots with celery seeds and white wine vinegar. When everyone else's recipes were done, I took some of the leftovers (and we had a lot of leftover vegetables), and made a mixed batch. The mixed batch included carrots, cucumbers, green beans, garlic, mustard seeds, whole cloves, celery seeds, whole allspice, and a mix of organic apple cider vinegar and red wine vinegar.
For the first time, #4 was allowed to prepare her own recipe with a knife. She did fantastic! She picked her own container of green beans at the store, rinsed them, cut the ends off, and filled the jar - all on her own! She was really hoping the store would have purple beans, like we grow in our garden. I told her most stores (here anyway) rarely have any beans other than green ones, but she insisted on looking anyway.
#1 reluctantly selected her own cucumbers at the store, rinsed them (with some help), and cut them up herself, carefully filling her jar. She's often a fan of saying "I don't know how" or "I can't" to avoid new experiences. I'm glad she was able to play along for this cooking game!
#2 made the pickled watermelon rinds, but we selected the wrong watermelon. It had a very thin rind, it wasn't sweet at all, but he followed the instructions (remove outer skin layer and as much pink as possible and cut into chunks). The rabbits will get lots of watermelon left overs tonight! Elsa definitely enjoyed her portion today (see video below).
Once we got all seven jars stuffed with goodies, it was time to make the pickling juice (vinegar, salt, sugar, and some kind of flavor enhancement).
You have to microwave the pickling solution until it boils, then pour it into your jar and put the lid on. Because this is a hot and spillable step, parents did it.
In the end we made Pickled Carrots with celery seed in white wine vinegar (my recipe, above far left), Pickled Cherry Tomatoes with cloves in distilled white vinegar (#3's recipe, above center), and Pickled Watermelon Rind with black peppercorns in red wine vinegar (#2's recipe, above far right). We made Pickled Cucumber with garlic in red wine vinegar (#1's recipe, below, far left), Pickled Cauliflower with mustard seeds in apple cider vinegar (Tony's recipe, below, center), and Pickled Green Beans with whole allspice in white wine vinegar (#4's recipe, below, far right). We all seem to agree that the green beans look the tastiest right off the bat.
I used some of the leftover veggies to make a mixed recipe. This one included carrots, cucumbers, green beans, garlic, mustard seed, celery seed, whole allspice, and whole cloves, mixed in apple cider and red wine vinegars.
In case anyone is hoping for a recipe, it's really easy to remember!
Prepare your veggies (rinse and cut, poke holes in the tomatoes) and stuff a jar (we used 16 ounce jars, which are a lot smaller than we imagined 16 ounces to be). Then fill the jar with the vinegar to cover your vegetables. Pour the vinegar out into a microwave safe bowl and add in 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, and 1 tsp of the spice. For #1's garlic, she added one regular and two small cloves. Cook the liquid mix in the microwave until it boils. Our first batch took about 2 minutes, 10 seconds to come to a boil. Each subsequent batch took less and less time as the bowl was already warm (we rinsed in hot water between uses) and the microwave was staying pretty warm. By the last batch it was boiling by 1 minute 35 seconds. Carefully take your hot pickling solution out of the microwave, stir to make sure the salt and sugar are dissolved, and pour it over your soon-to-be-pickles! Screw on the lid and leave them on the counter until they're room temperature. Once they've cooled to room temp, pop them in the refrigerator. They'll be ready to eat in 4-48 hours (says the recipe guide). We will be tasting our creations on Friday when we are back out at my parents' house for St. Patrick's Day dinner (corned beef - yum!). Update (and voting results) to come! Interested in getting your own gaming cookbook to play along? Please check out the Cooking With Dice Kickstarter page! If you have more questions about this awesome gaming cookbook that can bring your whole family together to explore cooking, or might be reading this after the fundraiser is closed, you can visit the Cooking With Dice website! They're also on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (links on their website)! And as promised, I will close with a video of Elsa munching on some leftover watermelon. Be sure to turn your sound on because she makes the cutest chewing noises! Elsa is simultaneously doing well and not so much. She seems to be enjoying her new life indoors, and I caught her relaxing in the straw bedding (see photo below) today. But on the other hand, she has decided to start getting aggressive again and has gone after my mom a couple times now when she tries to reach into the cage to refill Elsa's food and water dishes. I think I may have to bring her a water bottle instead of a bowl, so my mom can water her safely from outside the cage. What a stinker. This is similar to the aggression we saw when she initially came to us, and it escalated to the point that she would attack anything that came near her cage. It took quite a while to get her settled in. I worry that this could be a sign that she would not do well with the adjustment of going to a new home, which could mean that we can't sell her. I'd hate to find her a good home only to have her returned for this behavior, or worse, culled or eaten because she's deciding to be a brat. I have no idea what I'm going to do with her from here. We're expecting the high temperatures to be above freezing (hopefully) by Wednesday, but it's still going to be below freezing at night. I can't keep her indoors here because our dog would probably never leave her alone, we don't have space, and I'm worried that if I introduce her to the cats, Mabel will stalk and attack her. She can't stay with my parents forever, and the original agreement was just until Thursday when the high temps were supposed to be above freezing. But I didn't realize the full extent of her nudity until I went and got her out of the cage to bring her in for my Mom. She's really naked. And once she gets used to indoor temperatures, she's going to have an even harder time going back outside until we get to summer temps - which will be about the time her fur grows back in. Elsa, Elsa, Elsa... What a spoiled little bunny. Whatever shall we do with her?
Dinner tonight at my parents' house was teriyaki stir fried vegetables with chicken over white rice. It was delicious. I ate way too much and ended up with a tummy ache, but it was so worth it! And there were tons of leftovers. Which will come in handy this week. It's officially spring break for the girls this week. This means all five kids will be home all week, while poor #2 is still "in session" for school (he does online schooling). I hope the girls behave and let him do his school work in peace, but that's not likely. If nothing else, the leftovers will help feed the hoard for the week. Tomorrow I'm hoping for a repeat of the tasty pulled pork sandwiches we had the week before last. Tony should be off tomorrow in time for dinner, and then he has Tuesday off. I'm really hoping he hears something back from the local bank by Tuesday so we can discuss putting in an offer on that property. I'm just really worried that we will put in our best offer (which is below asking price) and they will counter it, but we won't be able to accept. Please consider donating to our fundraiser so we can have at least a little wiggle room in the asking price and negotiation phase!! |
Amanda's BlogAmanda's blog about everything, important and trivial. Archives
April 2024
Categories
All
|