Naturally Simple Blog

I have been feeling uninspired, lately.  June and early July were busy; full of family obligations that left me feeling drained and awkward. These events usually unbalance me for awhile.  I  have a very different lifestyle from my extended family, from most people in fact. Socializing often reminds me that I don’t really fit in anywhere.  Consequently, I find myself struggling with introspection and self-doubt.

The fact that my student loans are soon to come out of deferment  is adding to my mental discomfort.  I really have to figure out what it is that I want to be when I grow up.  This is not something that is new to me, either.   I have struggled with it most of my life.  My herbal studies brought me great peace of mind as to my ability to care for my family but my desire to fit in to a certain mold always kept me from pursuing them seriously.   I still haven’t quite taken that leap from herbal student to practitioner due in part to my reluctance to set my life’s course in a way that will set me even further apart from the norm.
I took a cultural anthropology class. The one thing I took away from that class is that my need for acceptance and community is perfectly normal. Humans are, by nature, a tribal being. It is hard to reconcile this reality with the construct of society as it has evolved.  Honestly though, one only has to look at the struggling nuclear family unit in our society to know that our current paradigm is not conducive to human well-being and happiness.  Life experience has taught me this lesson as well.   During the periods of my life when I shut out my authentic self , my mental state  has suffered for it.  I  partied too hard and lived life loudly as possible in an attempt to drown out my nagging conscience.  Thankfully those days are long behind me .
Yesterday, at what I like to think was the peak of my current identity crisis,  I went to a nearby mall and just sat and watched as the “mainstream”  flowed in and out of various stores.  One woman in particular fascinated me. I don’t know her at all but I watched as she walked briskly through the mall, dragging a screaming little girl behind her.  She was pretty but in that made up sort of way that makes you want to scrub it all off and take a good look at what is underneath.   She went to the nail shop, the beauty supply store and a couple of clothing stores.   The child was growing more and more restless, screaming that she was hungry.  Eventually the mother, pushed to the limit of her patience, smacked the little one across the butt and drug her off to a fast food restaurant.
My heart ached for her and the little one.    I longed to walk up to her, take her hand and lead her to a place that was green and quiet.  To a place where she could marvel in the simple beauty of the world and share it joyfully with the lovely child she brought into it.  I wanted to convince her that  all of that “stuff” she was purchasing was not necessary to her happiness and help her to figure out what sort of void she was trying to fill.   I lack the courage of my convictions, however, so I went to the liquor store,  purchased a large bottle of vodka and went home to tincture my yarrow.

I was still thinking of her as I walked with my own boys to the park later in the evening.  We swung, chased fireflies, rolled in Trapolin’s favorite clover patch and played with the bunnies.   The clover called to me. I went home and brewed an infusion which I am sipping on this morning and I feel my “self” slowly settling back into my body.

The woman and her child still haunt me though.  Just as I am aware that I am coming out of my melancholy mood, I am realizing something else.   I know what I want to do with my life, don’t I?   I have all along.  I just need to muster up the courage and self confidence to do it.

Sorry for the brief lapse in posting there.  My blog was obviously experiencing some technical difficulties.  I am still not sure that all is right with the world but at least it seems to be working.

I suppose I have spent most of it gardening, dancing and sewing.  Darian and I are new performers with the Habeas Corpus Early Dance Troup.  Consequently we both have to have costumes ready for our performance at a local Renaissance Faire and the Arts Fest.   As if this time of year wasn’t already busy enough around here.  We have had dance class and rehearsals 2-3 times a week and costumes to work on during my “free” time.    It is quite difficult to convince my rational brain that I must take time away from other projects to make an Elizabethean feather fan!  It has been such a fun educational experience though that I can’t say I regret it.
I thought the best way to update would be to start up with the Independence day challenge updates again.   It seems the best way to keep up with what we have going on around here.
1. Plant something -  My tomatoes are not in the ground still but I have been hardening off for a few days now and I am looking forward to getting them in later this week.   Other than that it has been a flurry of planting around here.   I looked at my list posted earlier this spring.    To that list I can add nanking cherries, Hansen bush cherries,  acorn squash, butternut squash, echinacea,  habenaro peppers,  cayenne peppers, and serrano peppers.  I transplanted the  zuchinni, yellow summer squash starts into the Earthboxes. 

2. Harvest something - Comfrey,  kale, lettuce,  dandelion greens,  radishes, chives, cilantro, parsley.

3. Preserve something -   I put up six pints of applesauce to use up the rest of a bunch of apples that I bought that were less than impressive eating apples but worked well for cooking and saucing.  The sauce will be good for use in oatmeal bread.

4. Reduce waste - I have been using up old scraps of fabric and things I have around the house for our costumes but I have had to make some new purchases.  The compost pile is growing although I am definitely not turning it as much as I should.

5. Preparation - built a second  portable fence for our peas to trellis up.  It fits perfectly across the front beds so I think we will be making more of these.

Storage - Stored away this months buying club order.  25 lbs of fair-trade organic sugar, 25 pounds of organic unbleached flour,  11 pounds of whole wheat spaghetti, and 5 pounds of organic fair-trade coffee.

I bought several patterns because JoAnns was having a sale.  It is hard to pass up $1.99 for something that is usually $15-$17 dollars.  I bought a couple of patterns that will be handy when I am looking for a quick gift as well as some clothing and costuming patterns.

6. Build Community Food Systems -  I worked my hortline shift for the month. The Master Gardeners are having a plant sale on the 24th which I am looking forward to.  I also started my volunteer work  for Local Foods Connection on Sunday morning.  We transplanted some chives and now I am working on a pamphlet to be distributed with the pots.  I have been e-mailing back-and-forth with the volunteer coordinator at the food bank to get the kids and I back on the schedule for the summer months. 

I have bought a few plants at the Farmer’s Market but I haven’t been buying much along the lines of produce because I have most of what is available growing in my yard.  I found a fantastic source of local roving and yarn.  I am in love with her colors.

7. Eat the Food!

From garden: I just brought in a big beautiful batch of lettuce for salads this evening.  We haven’t had a lot of anything ready until this week

From storage: We are still using up the tomato sauce from last year and I cleaned out the freezer and put a lot of soups in the fridge to be eaten up for lunches this week.  I have to make room for the kale and strawberries (my patch is out-of-control) which will soon be ready for preserving.  Things I am slacking on:

I still  haven’t managed to get  spigot on the rain barrel which really makes me cranky given all the rain we have had lately but it can’t be helped.  We had to clean the gutters this weekend instead as they were flowing over and wreaking havoc on my front greens bed.  I have that damage repaired. 

Our garage has to be cleaned and organized to make room for all the empty canning jars that are accumulating in our kitchen. 

I haven’t used my solar oven as much as I would like.  This is in part due to poor planning and partly due to a bit of a rainy spell.  I will definitely need to keep a better eye on the future forecasts.

Weeding, weeding and more weeding…

I have been thinking deeply on my role in the world.   I  believe passionately in many causes.  I try to be an active participant in society  by voting, writing to my legislators, volunteering, buying local, handmade or fair-trade items and creating community.
I also believe that I am doing my share to be of service to the world community due to the  measures I take to reduce the impact my family has on this planet.   I hope that by sharing  these attempts with those who are interested in growing along this path, I am making myself useful as well.   I consider myself an activist.  So I was a bit taken aback when it was brought to my attention that some people feel I am shirking my civic duty by devoting my time to home and family.   In a passive aggressive manner, the charge was leveled at me that I engage in frivolous pursuits, such as dancing and socializing, when there is serious work to be done.  I suppose I am guilty of this but I will not apologize.   All human beings deserve joy  in their lives.   It is what makes the hard work worthwhile.
Furthermore, I am a mother.  I have children to nurture, a home to care for, a garden to tend and a husband who is often gone for weeks (sometimes months) at a time.   My current responsibility  is to raise children who grow to be peaceful, mindful world citizens.  This is the time for me to set an example for them to follow into adulthood. Would I be doing this if I weren’t  embracing life and doing things I enjoy?  I don’t think so.
I am savoring this wonderful chapter in my life.  I also know I will have many years when my children are older for other pursuits.   I am learning so much during my time as a mother that I will be of greater service at that time.   The best part is that I will be able to devote myself freely, devoid of the guilt I would have if I hadn’t lived all these years in a manner that was authentic to my beliefs.

Clothing

Didn’t do too much in this area.  I am lucky just to keep up with the laundry this time of year.  ETA:  Darian and I did pick up a couple of things at Goodwill.  I got a fun new shirt for going out.
Food and Garden

I think we are doing a fairly good job of sticking to the menu given the fact that it is week one of husband’s stinky ole’ business trip.  I tend to lose energy right around dinner time.  I haven’t made anything fancy but we are eating at home.

The seedlings have all been transplanted into larger pots and are now just hanging out and waiting until I feel safe planting them.   We actually had sleety/slushy/snow type stuff on Monday so I am going to wait a good long time, I think.

I planted the greens’ bed and continued work making room for more raspberries in back.
I started work on digging up the front corner of the yard around the grape arbor.  I am trying very hard NOT to resort to the tiller for this task but double digging the area with my pitchfork may be more than I can take.  On the upside, we had a lot of dandelion greens to enjoy in a baked root vegetable dish for Tuesday’s dinner.
I scored some windows on Freecycle and a friend graciously found a water barrel for me so it looks like I will have some building projects to work on soon.
Household

The shampoo bars are cut and curing along with a batch of gardener’s soap.

I started some oil infusing for my healing salve.  I forgot how hard gardening is on your hand.

Utilities

I brought the drying rack up from the basement so that I can dry the laundry on the deck.I got some power strips and have everything in the family room set up so it can be turned off at night.  I still have to do the upstairs but it is a start.

Gifts
Exercise/self improvement

English Country Dancing lessons again this week although with my husband gone that is about all the time I had for self improvement.

I am trying to make arrangements for a sitter so the girls and I can take a basketmaking class but that is not looking promising right now.

Education

I put together a short story unit using Internet resources for the girls.

Purging
Weaknesses

I spent a bit of money this week on new stuff but in my defense, it was for the greater good.  I bought  power strips, a paper shredder (for composting efforts) and another shop light for my seedlings.

Compacting is a way of life around here as it is for my good friend, Tansy.  She has recently developed a good way to keep track of her progress by blogging about it on a weekly basis. She calls it Not Buying It which I think is quite witty.   I thought I would join her in creating a weekly post about my strengths and weaknesses in this area.

I didn’t do a great job this week because of the sick children and the fact that I have been really busy trying to get some big projects done before my husband leaves me for weeks (work).
Clothing

I mended a couple of items, sewed a few buttons on and fixed a tie with fusible webbing.

I started a tye dye stack of clothes that we will rejuvenate by dyeing if the weather ever warms up.  That is definitely not an indoor event.

I rescued a few items that fit  from a friends’ throwaway pile.
Food and Garden

We planned our two week menu using items from our pantry first.

The highlights of the week were Reubens with homemade sweet potato fries and deep-fat fried candy bars.  (Okay that was the teenagers’ idea but I would do it again

Dear husband made his fantastic fried rice for me rather than ordering Chinese.
Dear husband also built homemade “Earthboxes” to conserve the amount of water used when gardening this year.   The downside is that we had to buy some of the materials new but we checked at the Restore and Craigslist.  Neither had what we needed.

We made some self watering planters from two liter bottles and old shirts.  I promise I will get to that post later this week when we are done creating.
Indoor seedlings are still growing well I am using  homemade fertilizer to feed them–seaweed/nettle/chamomile infusion.
Didn’t plant much in the last week due to the sleet and snow.  The kale, lettuce, radishes and peas seem to be hanging in there.
Household

Used homemade chest rub and teas to help provide a little relief from the nasty virus.
Cold-processed a batch of shampoo bars this week.  I am waiting for them to cure so I can get some gardeners’ soap in the mold next.   Is it odd that I am excited to be running low on coconut oil so I can use the little bucket as a tomato hanger?

Made homemade lotion and bath oil. All that swimming wreaks a bit of havoc on our skin.
I found some paint on Freecycle that I think will work for a project I have in mind for my daughter’s room.
Utilities

The furnace hasn’t kicked in much despite our snap of wintery weather but I haven’t taken down the window blankets or the plastic on the windows yet, either.
We do a good job of turning lights off and appliances when we aren’t using them but  I need to find some power strips to put the computers and that sort of thing on.

Took the rugs outside and beat them rather than vacuuming.  Okay the vacuum doesn’t work that well anyway but we still did it.
Gifts

I am working on a birthday gift for a friend and an end of the year gift for our HSAP coordinator.

see weaknesses
Exercise/self improvement

When it is nasty out,  we exercise on the free use equipment at our community rec center and have an annual pass to our community pool.  We usually go on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

My daughter and I are taking English Country dancing lessons as well.
Homestead

I am not sure what to put here that I haven’t already covered somewhere else.
Education

Using our local library as a source for many educational projects.  They have a fantastic selection of DVD’s from the Teaching Company.
I am using some old wooden boxes to make a Cuisenaire rod game.

Using paper Steve rescued from the recycle bin at work to print off schoolwork.
Purging

This was my strong area this week,  we cleaned every closet in the house and took loads of clothing and old stuff to Goodwill.  We are also re-using items when making planters for the garden.
Weaknesses

Not really a weakness but my garbage-can-turned-rain-barrel seems to have cracked during the winter so I have to find a new one for that.   Until then,  I am stuck using “expensive water” on my garden.
Bought gifts for my nephew and niece for their birthdays.  It was a combination of not being able to come up with a good idea or time to make something.

We bought bread instead of making it which I had been doing a good job of keeping up with.
My son and I grabbed lunch at the coop on Thursday and we ate out on Friday because we went to the rally.  I can’t remember the last time we have eaten out twice in one week.

I don’t often use my blog for political statements but today would be too much to pass by.   I am joining many other Iowans in rejoicing the decision that our Supreme Court made this morning.   The Iowa State Supreme Court ruled that a law banning same sex marriage is unconstitutional.   I applaud the Supreme Court decision.   My family and I attended the Freedom to Marry Rally downtown this evening.  It was truly an inspiring sight to behold.

The Reverend Bruce Kittle delivered an inspiring message on behalf of the religious community here in Iowa City.     His wife is our school district’s homeschool assistance program coordinator so I was particularly happy to see that they were both there showing their support along with many of my friends and neighbors.

I was proud that my children were excited to attend and show their support.

If have accomplished nothing else as a parent,  I have taught my children that all people are entitled to equality and have the right to live, worship, love and marry as they see fit.  I am proud that I live in a state whose voters have elected wise judges to sit on our Supreme Court.

I am proud that my Congressman, Dave Loebsack,  is supportive of equal rights.   Thanks Dave,  for being the man my husband and I worked to see elected.  I was saddened by the response of other legislators whom I respect.    Steve King continues to be an embarassment to the state of Iowa, but I expected nothing less than the vile idiocy that spewed forth from his mouth today.

Congratulations to members of the LGBT community who worked hard for this day.   I join many others in applauding your efforts.  You are an inspiration to my children and to myself.

As I am stuck at home with sick children and it is really too chilly to get anything done outside, I decided today to tackle some organization jobs.  I have managed to completely empty the closet under the stairs.  Now I need to think about what should be done with that area.

We condensed five boxes of dance costumes to two of those bags that you vacuum close.  We also took three garbage bags full of clothes to Goodwill.
Currently, I  am blogging while my poor husband is being forced to go through his wardrobe and donate anything he doesn’t wear on a regular basis.  I expect we will come up with another bag or two out of his stuff.
I have an ulterior motive in getting him to do this.  His busy season starts soon which means he will be packing for long trips and I need to know what he needs to done before he leaves.    Procrastination makes me crazy.   I like to have a couple of weeks to prepare for things instead of having to race to do things at the last minute.   So far we have determined that two suits need cleaned,  his black dress shoes need re-soled and I need to replace buttons on two pairs of cords.
I have also decided that one man should NEVER own 24 white polo shirts. Furthermore,  college t-shirts that haven’t fit you in ten years are NOT keepsakes, they are ratty old rags.  Granted I am saving some of these ratty old rags to make wicks for self-watering planters, however, they are not going back in the closet.

I am so sorry for the long break,  unfortunately my computer time is one of the things that sometimes has to take a back seat to other concerns.   I always feel guilty posting on my blog when I don’t have much time to keep up with others.  I think I am back on top of things so I thought I would take this opportunity to jump back in.   I was really touched that some people actually checked in on me during my break.  It was a nice surprise.
I will post an update later but I am going to try to spend some time reading and getting caught up with others, first.

So blogging is going to be slow going this week, I am feeling like absolute crud due to the lovely reaction my body has to penicillin. The swelling has gone down in my jaw though so I no longer look like someone hauled off and popped me a good one. I thought I would throw out an Independence day update. I am only managing about one a month, I promise to try to be more consistent when the weather is nicer

1 Plant something- Nope but I am thinking about gardening. I am jealous of everyone who already has ordered all their seeds. It will be next month sometime before I can manage that. I really want to talk with someone who has grown their own ginger. We use so much of it for food and medicinal purposes that I need to investigate growing some.

2. Harvest something- Does squeezing aloe out for a burn count?

3. Preserve something- I put up some soups with my pressure cooker and froze some leftover soups and dahls. Tomorrow, I am going to make a big batch of egg noodles and freeze some in batches. I did use my dehydrator to dry some sore throat pills I made.

4. Store something- Other than the bulk order we placed this month being put away we are running through more than we are storing right now.

5. Manage reserves- We have been doing a fairly good job of planning our menus from our pantry. I have been pulling out herbs for medicinal purposes and making my own soaps and lotions and stuff. I guess I look at this as managing my reserves because if I weren’t doing that all the bulk oils I bought would be going bad.

6. Cook something new- I made Chinese almond cakes for our Chinese New Year dinner on Monday and we have discovered a great new ginger sauce. We are thinking that we might have a go at putting the sauce up in pints with the pressure cooker so that we have a quick stir-fry sauce put away. I am wondering about doing this with the homemade sweet and sour sauce we make as well.

7. Prep something- In the last month I have made up some cold care capsules, herbal sore throat pills, lip balm,and a couple of other herbal concoctions. I have my herbal bug repellant made for the garden already. LOL I also made some nice handmilled soaps from cold-processed bars that I shaved down. They had cured a bit too long maybe and lost their nice scent. I am particularly happy with the ones I made from a new celtic mold I picked up. I used pine and french green clay as additives so they are a nice sage color. I cleaned out the closets and did some work on my craft area. The whole point of this next month will be to get things in order so that I can get outside as soon as weather permits.

8. Reduce waste- I haven’t really burnt up the world in this department. I can’t think of anything really new we have done. I still use my bags for groceries and buy milk in glass. I use re-usable freezer containers when I freeze food. I love the little half-pint squares for freezing single servings of soups. They work well for pesto too which is why I bought them in the first place.

9. Learn a new skill- I am sure Sharon would be proud of the fact that I can finally crochet a sock! I have almost finished a pair of slipper socks for my oldest son. I also did three hats this month. Not bad for someone who couldn’t crochet much more than a chain six weeks ago. I still haven’t touched the knitting needles since I finished my Dad’s scarf right before the holidays. As soon as I finish a hat for my daughter and a pair of slippers for my younger son, I will work on the knitting. I went to the knitters breakfast at Home Ec last Saturday and I am always so inspired by the projects I see people working on there.

10. Work on local food systems- I started an Iowa Gardeners group at the Freedom Gardens website. I have made a few connections there but honestly the weather and illness have kept me home a lot lately. Hopefully next month will be better.