Thursday 13 #4--Things I found while cleaning out my closet

Yes, I know it's Friday, but I'm sick of being too busy to post these, and this blog needed a little something...



My mother's been here for nearly two weeks, helping us by watching Anthony and enabling us to have a few nights out, and to catch up on some of our chores. Yesterday, I decided to make a preliminary pass at one of the closets in my office--moving things to a more ideal placement, writing up a rough inventory, and throwing out two bags worth of garbage plus 7 or 8 redundant boxes for the burn pile. Near the end of my day, I'd emptied all 5 of the north shelves (I have 3 walls worth, sort of a "U" pattern), and I could start filling those with various homeless things that have been sleeping on the floor for the past few months. Here are 13 (of many) things that I found during this first purge:

1. Afro Celt Sound System cd (v.3:Further in Time)-- it had somehow become separated from its case, and was in one of those free AOL tins. I popped it into my MacBook and had me some good cleaning music. While it was in there, I also imported it to my iTunes.

2. 2 BookCrossing books-- Drawing Blood, and Sixteen Pleasures. Not that I'll be able to read them anytime soon, but it's good to have them where they belong.

3. Anthony's baby book-- Needless to say, that's another pending project, maybe I'll find time for it this winter.

4. Calculator-- Yes, I still use the one I had to buy for 8th grade pre-Algebra. The one on my Dashboard is nice, but sometimes you really need to have the numbers in sight at all times.

5. 3 pairs of sunglasses-- Don't ask me how they wound up in the closet! Well, now I can have a pair in each car, one in my purse, and one to use at home. Overkill? You betcha!

6. Thank You cards-- Bought these before Anthony was born, and didn't get around to witing them. This is still a running fight between me and DH, and one of the reasons Anthony will probably never celebrate another birthday while he lives here. I think I'll send them to my younger sister, who's having her boy in December.

7. Corner cutter-- Bought this a few years ago for my new scrapbooking hobby. Will put it to good use one of these days.

8. Pet hair remover (brush)-- With 3 cats, not a good thing to go missing. Need to add this "ToDo" to my chore list, to help me remember to keep up.

9. Sonic coupon-- It's still valid! DH can save his usual $4 and still have a good breakfast.

10. Birth certificate-- This needs to go into the firesafe, along with my great-grandmother's cookbook. It looks like the copy that my mother needed to register me for kindergarten.

11. Free meal certificate for Buffet Palace-- There's no expiration date, but I know it's at least 5 years old, so who knows if they'll still honor it? I don't like the restaurant itself as much as I did back when I got the certificate, but it will do if I'm desperate and in the neighborhood.

12. Christmas ornament-- My mom gave us this one a few years ago; has both our names engraved on it, so it needs to be on the tree.

13. Two screwdrivers and my hammer-- My toolbox is looking a lot better now, and yes, I have labeled my hammer.

I still have some shelves to fill, but I think that will have to wait until Sunday (at the earliest, who knows what kind of energy I will have left after spending Saturday at Maker Faire?). I also did some shelf-shifting, and I was able to get some more books off the floor. Save for the NE corner of my office, I can nearly make an unobstructed circuit around the workspace behemoth. I'm also working on clearing the mass next to the door so that I can close it when necessary. After all that, I'll start working on the action items in the closet (decide on giveaways, put some boxes in the attic, file paperwork, go through magazines). Finishing all of those should halve what's taking up space, and I might even be able to start stage 2: move more of the office supplies to the closet, swap out the big "desk" for something else, and start creating a homier space that might double as an occasional guest room. Ah, pipe dreams...

He's Here!

And I missed the whole thing... DH had been getting his things ready to leave for work and saw this:



Yep, that would be the ass of my sparkly white ass.

OK, he isn't sparkly (I did not grab the glitter on the way out the door)--yet--he's a mudball; we got about an inch and a third of rain yesterday, mostly last night.

Here's Sombrea and son:



He doesn't seem to have figured where to get his next meal, so I may need to intervene. Right now, I have to get my own kid fed and situated safely so I can get a better handle on the next step. Yes, DH still had to go to work; I could have used another pair of hands, but I was not swift enough upon waking this morning to beg for help.

Here's a better view:



More news and pictures as I can get them... my son is being recalcitrant about these last few spoonfuls of yogurt.

ETA: His future owner, my good friend Phelan, has a poll going on her site to choose his full name; he'll be Firefly [something] of Browncoat Acres. Go here to vote!

Hardware failure

I'm awaiting the arrival of a serviceman from the wastewater company we've a contract with for quarterly maintenance. According to DH, the compressor to our system has gone out. I'm not sure yet [update: about $250] how much thhis will set us back, but I think it's safe to say that it will be another month before I can replace my old dresser (which my son is using now); I'm sure that DH is looking forward to having the other half of his available again.

Update: The serviceman is here now with his son (looks to be about 5). He's rebuilding the compressor (glad that's an option--a brand new one would cost a lot more), and should be done in about a half hour. I gave the boy carrots to feed to the donkeys, and he's very excited about doing that. Assuming the sheep will stick close by (I did throw some hay out as motivation--do you think that will work?), he should also be able to get a good look at them.

Further update: The compressor is all fixed, and we're good to go! I'm glad we didn't have to wait very long to continue with our normal water-use... routine.

This post has nothing to do with the homestead...

except perhaps the audiobook (Stone Work, by John Jerome) I'd finished on the way to and from Castroville for my son's birthday celebration.

My boy turned 2 on Saturday! He isn't getting all that big, but he is definitely growing up. I have to look at old pictures to see my baby again. Just this morning, as I read through my email, I saw that BabyCenter sent my first Pre-schooler Bulletin. He may have a new label, but he's still in toddler mode in many ways: he still has to master language, toilet-training, mealtime manners, and the social dance. It's time for me to get with the program(s) so he can come out of this stage happy, healthy, and acceptable to others.

We spent most of Saturday preparing and packing for our trip, so of course everyone was stressed out and tired before we had to be "on" for the party. Right after we checked in to the Landmark Inn and settled the larger items of aforementioned package into our room, we drove over to Oma's for dinner (burgers and beans), cake (chocolate), and presents for Himself.

Grandparents S gave him two outfits and a signing activity book. Oma gave him a plush ABC caterpillar (with which DH helped Anthony show off a little bit--have I mentioned that he knows his letters, and is getting pretty good with numbers?), a clothing-fastener practice dog (a Dapper Dan knockoff), several board books, and more clothes. G-UncleD and G-AuntL gave him a riding toy (with cupholder and basket) and a Cheerful Chimp (anyone remember Zippy?). DH and I gave him 2 handpuppets (a pirate and a dragon), a Pirate PotatoHead, a pair of sandals (that are very similar to Daddy's, and yes, he noticed), and a box of crayons (of course they're washable, I'm not crazy). We also bought him a Lego baseplate which we'll attach to a free endtable I'd found, so he'll have a Lego table for tres cheap. My sister and BIL sent a pirate backpack, and my parents sent a check for a DYR storage unit.

I'll post pictures later, after I've had them developed and digitized. We don't have any video, as Daddy was too busy wrangling presents, and we don't have any of the candle-blowing, as Anthony still doesn't "get" blowing. Note to self: practice for next year, at least a few months out.

We spent Sunday celebrating St. Louis Day at Koenig Park and at Oma's. Because of sleep issues, all of us were wiped out by the time we got home that evening. I for one am glad that I'd planned on frozen dinners for everyone.

And that, my friends, was our long, very tiring, very full weekend. For the sake of my sanity [go ahead, laugh, you might as well], I am not even going to try to imagine what future birthday events are going to be like when they start involving his peer group.

Birthing Donkeys? Me?

[originally posted to The Modern Homestead]

There’s an impending birth here at Browncoat acres; it will be the farm’s first in 2 years (my son and the 2 surviving chickens were born, and hatched (respectively) in mid-August of 2005). Sombrea (a Standard donkey) came to us pregnant, but her previous owner couldn’t tell us when she’d been bred--we think this one hadn’t been planned or authorized--especially so soon after giving birth to Serenity. So, at this point, it’s a guessing game as to when we’ll be hearing the clippity-clop of a new set of hooves around here. This will be my first midwivery, and I am pretty nervous, but I have to get over that before I get near Big Momma--she'll smell that straight off.

According to Morris (Looking After a Donkey), there are a few signs that we should be looking for: udder swelling, teat swelling, and teat waxing. After all this, Sombrea will actually begin dripping milk; that is when we need to start monitoring her every two hours, day and night. If I’m brave enough, I can also squeeze the base of her tail gently (obviously, that is the danger zone after all) to test for softness. Soft=get your coffee brewing things ready.

Her next bodily preparation will be to eliminate everything from her lower g.i. tract. From here, she’ll start having contractions within a few hours, and we’re to be checking for those every half hour or so. I should make time in the next few days to call Sombrea’s former owner to ask about her foaling history--how many she’s had, if she’s had any complications in the past, and what her last labor (with Serenity) was like in duration. Hopefully, this one won't travel like a shot cannonball.

I’ll post part 2 of this article to TMH this week (and copy it here), before I leave for Kansas, which will discuss the theoretical labor process. Part 3 will be my writeup (and pictures, if we’re lucky) of the birth after it’s happened, hopefully not while I'm gone.

Thursday 13 #2--13 Things I Have Learned Since Moving to Texas

Thirteen Things about Marina After giving up on having a teaching career in California [as it turns out, I was off by only a few days, but that is another story], I packed a Ryder truck with the necessaries and my dog (my cat would be flown out later), and headed for Austin, a town that my therapist had recommended ("the Capitol Building has a great big goddess on top, how can you go wrong?"). I arrived just before Labor Day in 1996, and have not once regretted the move. Here are some things that I've managed to figure out in the past (nearly) 11 years (YMMV). 1. It's a good idea to "ma'am" or "sir" anyone in a position of authority, people in the service sector, and anyone older than yourself. Playing by their rules of politeness makes the exchange much more pleasant, and makes oneself less of a "rude Californian [in my case, obviously]. 2. During the "summer" (which extends well beyond mid-June to mid-September, in both directions) months: hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. As good as it is for your skin and hair, the humidity won't replenish your insides. 3. Unless you live in the Panhandle, cull any sweater collection you've brought to 3: one black, one cream, and one of your favorite/most flattering color. You might need to wear each one once in any particular winter. 4. You really can brand yourself with your seatbelt latch in the summertime. Attach an icepack to that dangerous metal part while out doing errands. 5. Chiggers are pure evil, followed closely by fire ants, West Nile-carrying mosquitoes, and scorpions. 6. Mexican-style food is very different from the kind I had back home, and it is absolutely necessary to tell the server "no jalapenos", even though the menu may not mention them as an ingredient in your dish. 7. In Chinese restaurants, if you ask for "tea," they'll serve it to you iced. If you want it hot, say so. 8. If you tell a UT (Longhorn) graduate that you're an Aggie, it is in your best interest of bodily safety to quickly qualify "Davis Aggie--from California--not BCS sweartogod." The Longhorn may ask for proof, so it's a good idea to wear your ring, or carry an alumni card. Avoid wearing maroon, especially during football season. Don't believe me? Let me show you this seatbelt branding... *wink* 9. Use "y'all" properly--as a plural. 10. If you didn't learn real dance steps in your earlier years, figure them out ASAP; that "freestyle" you've been using since junior high looks like a seizure, and will be treated accordingly. 11. You can visit whatever ecosystem you're in the mood for--forest, beach, desert, etc.--without leaving the state. 12. 2 proper pairs of boots (work and dress) are essential. Stetson hat and leather duster are optional, but an exceptionally nice bonus. 13. Time spent finding the perfect BBQ sauce is well worth the effort. Attend as many competitions as your waistline can handle. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. Andi posts 13 cool pictures. 2. Gal tells us about her 3 cats. 3. Frigga goes interactive with movies. 4. Nicole's getting ready for the new school year. 5. Carolan shares some very cool Celtic websites. 6. Amy remembers her college days. 7. tommiea lists 13 things sh'es done to her home since her husband deployed. 8. gattina shares 13 things one should never say during sex. 9. Janet gives us 13 of her favorite things that begin with the letter "W." 10. Linda shares 13 things she's learned about the blogosphere.

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Thursday Thirteen #1--13 Things I Did Today

Thirteen Things about Marina 1. Woke up late, but still in time to unlock the gate for the sitter and get the garbage can to the curb in time. 2. Wrote out this week's menu and grocery list. 3. Brought Boudreaux in from the storm, from which we received .8" of rain. 4. Responded to as many other Thursday Thirteeners as I could. 5. Watched 3 episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise, season 2. 6. Cooked dinner--chicken mole burritos. 7. Updated my 360 blog with an action shot of Anthony chowing down on a rib. 8. Restocked my Hipster PDA. 9. Made a trip to Sun Harvest, which carries the soy cheese macaroni that Anthony loves, and I also found granulated fructose in bulk (so now I don't have to buy it at the scary HEB) 10. Loaded, unloaded, and reloaded the dishwasher. 11. Fed Boudreaux and Strut. 12. Rocked Anthony with his bottle before naptime. 13. Assembled Anthony's newly washed diapers. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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I am SO doing this next year:

Blogathon

But for now, two of my very dear friends (both of whom just happen to be biker-chick/authors) continue to blog through the night until 8 AM Central time.

Linda's primary theme at Raven's Roads consists of places she's been, or wants to visit. To fill in the gaps, she's written some pretty interesting "7 Things..." blurbs. Aside from the blogathon, she's currently focusing on travel and history, but she's also written a fantasy novel. Her charity is Christian Children's Fund. And RIGHT NOW she's hosting the following contest:

[the prizes]
A Matchbox HeroCity playset–a garage with a little dump truck.
A Fisher-Price bathtime book. It is vinyl and made for little kids to take into the tub.

Here’s what you have to to win them. (Two prizes.)
Blog about this site one more time (or for the first time.)
Tell people about the contest.
Come back here and post the link to the plug.
Say why you think one of these two prizes would be great and, if you want, who’s getting the prize.


Phelan at Homesteading Neophyte is focusing on food and blogging for Farm Aid. In her efforts to be published, she's written horror, dark fantasy, and poetry.

Both of them have some pretty cool contests going; some are for sponsorships, others for contest entries. Linda has a copy of her book "A Little Twist of Texas" and Phelan has Willie shwag (yes, THAT Willie).

You don't need to tell them I sent you (there's no contest for referrals, as far as I know), but do introduce yourself. They're exceptionally cool women.

Not much excitement, more than a little discouraged

We’ve plans to buy a pen for the grazers so what little grass we have has a chance to grow. Unfortunately, that's looking at about $1000 for a 60' round. Paying $130 for a round bale of hay (which lasts just less than a month) is getting old, and is seriously thwarting our ability to pay down our credit card debt. DH wants to hire someone to mulch our cedar piles, but I want to postpone it until we can pay off another card and/or do a transfer of our high-interest one.

We aren’t getting much out of our chickens, enough for us to eat, and a few dozen to sell each week, but not enough to cover the feed we buy (layer pellets, corn, and oats). Maybe we’ll back off on the grains, now that there’s more insect life for them to find. Must consult my experts [Phelan]. There’s one hen who’s been rejected by the flock, so we protect her at night in the old rabbit hutch. I think we’ve pretty much missed the window on expanding the flock, as we still don’t have a safe place for any chicks—a new coop, with a hover, is yet another project we don’t have the money (or time) to build.

We’ve also missed out on our spring garden, so we’ll have to see what we can do in the fall (a.k.a. growing season #2 in TX). All we have now is the oregano that survivied the icing we got back in January, and of course the rosemary, which will probably survive fallout from any nuke attack on Austin.

Dang, but it is hard to make this place a working farm that will qualify us for agricultural status, and the following property tax break. It seems like we need to win a big enough lottery to hire full-time people.

In Memoriam, Persephone 1994-2007

I suppose I’ve been off-planet long enough; here’s my attempt to make sense of the last few weeks...

My Dearest Beloved Grrl



died in my arms on 5/15, 13 days shy of her 13th birthday. The story of how I found her, and her last hours, aren’t pretty. I’ve told a few people, but I don’t think there’s anyone who wants to see it in “print.”

Deep down, I’d known that she’d been making the transition, but her journey to the Summerlands (where there are no fleas, fireworks, or thunderstorms, yet chaseable bunnies and fresh deer legs are plentiful) still hit me hard. I also know that I could have easily lost her to breast cancer in 2001, so these past 6 years have, technically, been bonus time. I wish they’d been better for her. Let me explain...

When I first took Persephone home, we (the ex-sociopath and I) had no fencing at our rental. At first, our restraint system was chains. We tried an electric fence (with the zap collars), but she broke “through” it more times than my sanity could handle. So, we contrived an overhead run which gave her some room to, well, run. The relationship fell through, and I made my way out here, with herself riding shotgun (I’d made a nest on the floor, but she insisted on watching the road). Our first week here, I boarded her at a vet’s; when I’d found an affordable apartment, the best yard I could offer her was a 12’x6’ patio. At least she was off the tether, and we walked the neighborhood every weekday, and one park or another on the weekends. We saw our first fireflies together on the Town Lake trails.

The next few residences had adequate backyards--one with grass and another dog to play with, another with wild onions in lieu of a lawn, another that was rocky, but on a hill (excellent for surveillance, or so she told me), and the one before our current residence (Browncoat Acres), which had grass and a concrete slab to dig under--in theory, anyway. Hopefully, I have made the point that I was almost never happy with her living arrangements. I wanted her to be unfettered, to have shade and sun and grass at will, and to have space in which to gallop, like she used to do on the beach in her puppyhood. Can’t go back again, indeed.

We moved into this house over the 4th of July weekend in 2003. I remember being adamant that she be out of Austin and away from Nemesis#2. Finally, I’d found her a home where she was free to explore off-leash, switch locations at will, and make her own favorite spots. Within a few years, however, she became incontinent, and we weren’t able to treat it adequately. Her favorite spot was on the front porch, in front of the door ("take a hint, Mom"), so she was eventually confined to a run (cobbled together from cattle panels) in the backyard, which essentially put her back to where we’d started. The difference this time was in my ability to exercise her--I was pregnant with my son. At one point, I was nearly put on bed rest, and soon after that I was big enough to be uncomfortable exerting myself in the summer heat--two of our chickens exist purely because I didn’t set foot in the backyard to collect eggs for the 3 weeks prior to giving birth.

Could I make this story longer? I know I can’t justify or excuse the attentional neglect. I feel horrible for allowing myself to be coerced into banishing her from our home--I wanted her inside more often, I wanted her to be more comfortable in her later years, and I didn’t make it happen. I know (in my head) that I should focus on all the wonderful times we’ve had over the years and quit wasting energy on guilt-tripping.

Persephone had a wonderful smile.
She was beautiful.
She’d throw herself *wham* onto her back for a belly rub.
She’d also stick her butt up in the air to have it spanked--I swear she did not learn that from me.
I could feed her biscuits from my mouth.
She loved children, especially those with special needs.
She was so hurt when DH took her baby rabbit away.
Watching her take off down the beach, ears back, paws churning, made my heart sing.
She hated to swim, but did it for me anyway (what trust! what love!).
She was my best friend for nearly 13 years--that is the longest non-blood-family relationship I’ve had.
She loved to go camping; if it rained, I’d bring her into the tent with me.
She bore our rings at our handfasting.
She tolerated Anthony’s attempts at petting with grace.
She held her own when Boudreaux was in the mood to wrestle.
She behaved well in Circle.
She was the first of our animals to greet Anthony when we brought him home.
She’d howl at fire engine sirens, and at me if I sang “Blue” to her.
Of course she had a middle name: Ann.
She was always, always happy, nay, thrilled to see me.

I miss:
our walks down to the gate to get the mail
sleeping back-to-back with her
her kisses
the wag of her tail
her prance and bounce as I’d come near
her howl, and her “roo-roo-roo”
her sweet face
her deep brown eyes
playing tag, spins and play-bows included
the churn of her leg (sometimes two) as I scratched her belly
her, just her.

As far as the practical aftermath goes, her body is currently in our upright freezer (yes, it is almost impossible for me to go in there ). Neighbors run a business for which they own a backhoe; they will be coming over in the next few weeks to dig her grave (next to Kimmy’s), and I think DH will be building her coffin (if not, I have some phone calls to make). I’m considering a simple funeral, but I’m not sure what form it would take. I can’t find my copy of “I’ll Always Love You,” and it’s bothering me.

So, while I haven’t been dwelling specifically on losing Persephone, I’ve been in a self-absorbed funk. I’ve been reading, but not writing; the writing has got to get underway soon, or I will lose the best parts of my reviews to brainfade.

[crossposted to my lj account, and to Momma Writes About Books]