I bought our seeds for the garden today - I am VERY excited!
150 packets of Heirloom seeds chosen for this region at $0.40 each!
Of course I don't intend to plant them all this season, but it's a good start. You can store seeds for 10-20 years in the right conditions. If you want the comfort of knowing you'll have a steady, affordable source of food for the next decade or so I would start collecting seed whenever you can. Heirloom are the only seeds still available that allow you to collect and re-plant. Monsantos has gotten to all others, including organic and especially hybrid. More than likely it wont be long before they get to the heirlooms too.
Spring is quickly approaching and it's past due that Carl and I start getting a plan put together for spring planting. I'll be picking up plant starters from a local greenhouse this year for most of our crops. Researching where and how to plant certain vegetables has led me to a few very informative resources online. I want to attach a few links and after a few hours of messing around with the blog format have decided this is the best method.
I found this companion planting chart online: http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/complant.html#chart
It's from the National Sustainable Agricultural Information Service and they seem to have a wide range of topics and information on their page. They are associated with The National Center for Appropriate Technology, a site dedicated to local solutions for sustainable living and alternative energy: http://www.ncat.org/
Our chickens arrive on March 28th. I went into IFA today to take a look at feeders and misc stuff and almost walked out with a bunny. I don't know what I would do with a bunny but they sure are cute! I'm still trying to convince Carl to let me get a lamb. I like to think we'll get milk and wool from it but in reality it will probably eat my garden, require a lot of feed and be more a burden than a resource. Time will tell with that one. If I had it my way we'd have a mini petting zoo in our backyard!
So we need to build a chicken coop. We're planning to do something rather simple, cost efficient, and durable. I had no idea there were so many options, many of which are a bit extravagant for our needs. My friend Jenn tells me it's a good idea to have the coop built before the chicks arrive, but we'll just have to see how it goes. The part I'm most excited for though isn't the baby chicks, or having eggs or a hobby, I'm excited for when the children come over to play. I think they'll love the chickens and I look forward to sharing in their excitement, even if it does eventually wear off.
Badly. Wish it was an afternoon drive away. I miss the sound of the crickets chirping all day and night. I miss the smell of the dirt, especially the few minutes before and after the monsoon rolled in. Rain pouring down in a fury, clearing out the air and bringing the summer heat to a mild simmer. I miss the simplicity of my time there. Waking early with the sun, fetching eggs and skipping down the drive for the daily newspaper. Running into the house and slamming the door shut in excitement for the day and the food waiting on the table. I miss running through the Ponderosa covered hills in search of adventure and solitude, dreaming for hours and hours. Finding hidden treasures in the forest, picking fruit in the orchard. Watching the baby quell stumble behind their mother with belly's so full they couldn't find their feet. I miss my grandpa. Going to his office at lunch to bring him down for food and cards. He would spin me in circles while he sang "Mac the knife" at the top of his longs. I want to suck the juices from the honeysuckle that grew on the clothes line outside the window. Build a puzzle and listen to the hours pass by with the chime of a clock. I want to get my hands dirty in the garden of pansies my Papa planted for my grandma.
But most of all, I miss the feeling. The simplicity, the contentment and peace, the utter joy from the little parts of my day. Having no worries except for how much longer the sun would be up. It was a constant adventure of unexplored places. Everything that reminds me of that time, crickets chirping, the smell of rain, hearing Frank Sinatra on the stereo, seeing pansies pop up in the spring, the smell of fresh muffins, my grandparents, it all makes me hungry for what I first fell in love with, the desert.
This movie set my heart racing. I don't care what you believe when it comes to extra-terrestrials, if this movie is accurately based on true events, as it seems to be, than it really is shocking. I read the NASA sight, I'm familiar with Carl Sagan and his logical and reasonable explanations as to why UFO's do not exist. I'm also aware that it is not easy to prove and definitely seems a bit extreme, but I'm not so big to think we're the only life in the universe. What really gets me in this movie is that the force seems evil. It had ill-intentions and spoke in Sumerian.
Carl and I have seen UFO's twice in the past three weeks. The first time was around January 28th. We were standing on our back porch looking at the sky, which was mostly overcast, when we noticed a red light to the southeast. There were three of them hovering in a triangle, not moving through the sky. It was an odd sight. About two weeks later, I believe February 9th, it was back. We were on the back porch at 7:00pm, the same time as the first experience when we noticed it. The sky was very overcast, you couldn't see any stars or planes or satellites but you could see the lights. This time there was one red light that stayed in place and then started dropping objects. It dropped five or six glistening white lights that fell straight down, in timed order and then disappeared. A few minutes later the red light was gone.
Turns out the incident was on the news.
I wonder if we'll have more UFO sightings reported in 2011 and 2012? Also, if you have the History channel you should watch a mini-series they're doing called "Ancient Aliens". It's fascinating.
I just found out they did another story on it in our local news this morning. Here is the link for that story.
I'm not sure about the news story. If they had been Chinese lanterns you would of seen them go up and come down and you wouldn't have seen them through the clouds. If they were toy airplanes they would of been moving differently around the sky. And last but not least, why did we see the same thing on two different nights, several weeks apart that were in the exact same place in the sky? Same direction and same elevation.
My Uncle is just like my Grandfather. Both fighters for what they believe in. I'm very proud to be a direct relative. We need more people willing to stick their neck out for the greater good.
My Uncle calls me tonight to update me on a situation he's involved with in Washington. He is going head-to-head with the University of Washington and the Union, which he is a part of. He is about to reveal an entire ladder of corruption and deceit. Listening to him on the phone, he sounds just like my Gramps. It makes me laugh and it makes me proud.
Both my Uncle and my Grandfather have educated themselves to the point of expertise in their fields. Both have stood up to massive entities, both help the average layman, attorneys, judges, anyone who has a need for what they know and both have been 100% relentless in their pursuits.
Its been an active day. It's hard to see people you love in pain. My father in-law was recently in an accident that has left him unable to move about. We thought he was doing better but he came over today hardly able to move. This man never admits pain. He's afraid we'll make him slow down. Now we'll have to force him to slow down, which I believe to be a good thing. No one should work their entire lives.
I also received a letter from my cousin this afternoon. That always brings me joy, mixed with a little heartache. He is doing better and seems to have a more positive outlook on life and in himself. It's more the history and pathology that makes me sad. How he ended up in the place he's at. I have faith in his success and believe he'll make it through the trials he is facing. Looking forward to when that day comes when we find ourselves with a couple fishing reels in a lake and a beer in our hand.
I've been listening to a lot of good music lately. I'm enjoying it so much I thought I would share some of the titles so others might enjoy it as well.
The Black Keys "Brothers"
Arcade Fire "The Suburbs"
Iron and Wine "Kiss each other clean"
Arcade Fire is up for album of the year, it's the first time an indie group has ever accomplished this. "Brothers" is awesome! The Iron and Wine album is more mellow but I've enjoyed it. Great lyrics. All three of these albums are good through and through, not just for a few songs.
Pride is a tough emotion to swallow. At times a person must set their pride aside in order to survive. There are periods of immense struggle in all our lives. Some experience longer durations than others. Whether you are struggling or getting by relatively smoothly, try and give back. It comes around. Do what you can to help your brother. Not for retribution, not for some form of payback or guilt but because you can. And hope that when the day comes when you're struggling someone will watch out for you as well. If everyone gave just little more than they received we could live a more peaceable existence. Greed has caused our downfall, let compassion and empathy spur our success.
I bought our seeds for the garden today - I am VERY excited! 
