Tillers International

I just want to re-iterate how cool it is that  this place is local to me. I mean, check out the classes that you can take there! (A class at Tillers would be the perfect gift for this newbie farmgirl. Just sayin’.)

A description of Tillers International, from their website:

Tillers International is a 501(c)3 IRS non-profit organization for international rural development, specializing in farming with oxen. Based in Scotts, Michigan, USA at our Cook’s Mill Learning Center, Tillers offers classes in appropriate technology farming techniques, draft animal power, blacksmithing and metal work, timber framing, woodworking, cheesemaking, and many other farming and artisanal skills. Tillers also hosts interns, both international and domestic, and international guests for intensive periods of hands-on training. Whether you’re looking for a new hobby, a new land or skill-based livelihood, or an opportunity to contribute your knowledge and skills to an international project, Tillers welcomes you and offers myriad unique, educational opportunities.

Now’s the perfect time to remind you locals about the 2009 Southwest Michigan Harvest Festival, hosted by Tillers, on Sunday, September 20. We went last year and had the best time. It’s like what you might imagine an old time fair was like, with the heritage breed animals, the hayrides, the farm demonstrations…only add in the best of local foods, great speakers, info sessions, etc. I’m excited to go back and see the blacksmithing demonstrations again, as well as take better notes on which local farmers are selling heritage breed sheep, goats, pigs, and cows.

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Rats

Our new front loader (Bosch 500 Plus) is broken. The clothes and water are locked in there, and the machine won’t drain it or let me get in. It keeps telling me “E:13,” very impatiently, and I can’t seem to communicate how very much I’d like to know what that means. At least it’s stopped beeping at me now.

Thankfully, we’re under warranty, and the repair folks are stopping by tomorrow afternoon. A front loader won’t get moldy after 24-30 hours of standing water, will it? I hope not.

On a positive note, I won’t be doing any laundry tonight. Hurray!

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Getting Dressed: Before or After Breakfast?

For years now, I’ve had this struggle with trying to decide where in my day getting dressed fits. See, my kids aren’t super awake and jumping out of bed every morning, so letting them eat in their pajamas gets them energized for dressing and making beds afterward.

However. Bedsheets and bedclothes are to be kept clean, no? So that the dirt of the day is not brought into bed, and we aren’t changing our sheets and pajamas daily? So if the kids (and I, for that matter) wear our pajamas out to the main living areas to start the day, are we not exposing our previously clean pajamas to the potential of breakfast food, floor dust, etc.?

Maya loves having a checklist of things to do in the morning, and thrives on lists of the day’s activities. So earlier this year, I made her a list of things to do upon rising. This involved going potty, brushing hair, getting dressed, making bed, folding pajamas, etc. Initially, she hopped right into the routine each day, and was downstairs in a jiffy. But as the newness wore off, the routine took longer and longer. When she’s really tired in the morning, it’s all I can do to get her out of bed. Once she’s fed and awake, doing the tasks is much easier.

All that to ask: Is it better to have dressing before or after breakfast in a family’s schedule?

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The True Queen of Frugal

Simply Serina was inspired today after reading this post. True simple and frugal living, much the way I want to do it. (We’re getting closer!) Here’s a quote:

…My mother fed me Pop Tarts and Spaghetti O’s growing up. I decided when I was 29 that I was going to get a milk cow and make my own milk, and it started from there…

Via Theresa.

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the greenest house

I’ve been thinking a lot about green housing options as I frantically search online for a house or land for us to buy. Of course, my dream would be building (that is, hiring someone else to build) a moderately sized green house on lots of land (half pasture, half wooded). But our budget doesn’t jive with that, exactly, at this point in our lives. (Staying home on one missionary’s salary requires some sacrifices. I’m happy to make them; it just requires more creativity and resourcefulness when shopping for just about anything green.)

(And actually, we could build a wonderful, sustainable home on some nice land, if we didn’t have to follow building code.)

Anyways. We’d love to move somewhere that we could, ideally, stay for a while. Not have to move in five or ten years, unless God calls us to a new place. But the houses I’m seeing in our price range, with even just a little bit of land, are not places I’d like to call home long-term. We’re willing to do work, but some things aren’t even worth working on. We’re thinking of buying some land and building our own house, and we think it can be done. But the sacrifices would be great, and the work would be difficult.

Sometimes, I think the greenest house is one that already exists. Nothing goes into the landfill during a wasteful building process. No energy needed to build it. It’s already there, and by remodeling it in the greenest way, we are making use of something that’s already there (and that someone else may have bulldozed and tossed). We can reuse as much as possible, and ensure that any remodeling follows strict guidelines for our family’s health, as well as the environment.

For us, the biggest problems with buying a house that already exists:

• Older homes are more likely to have hazards that have to be remediated in order to be safe for our family, especially our children (i.e. lead paint, asbestos).
• Homes that already exist on land that we would like to own cost a lot of money.

But I want to know what YOU think. In general, is the greenest house one that already exists, or one that you create?

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i need a song about the moon.

The title pretty much sums it up. Who can find me a worship song/hymn that is about the moon? Or, at the very least, mentions the moon? The best I’ve got right now is Great Is Thy Faithfulness, which has the lyrics “Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above” in the second verse.

(We’re trying to focus on one song each week during homeschooling.  The last two weeks were Creation–This Is My Father’s World. This week is the Sun unit–Shine, Jesus, Shine. And next week will be the Moon.)

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first day of school is tomorrow!

Tomorrow is Maya’s first day of kindergarten. She’s very, very excited. I’ve told her that it’s not going to be much different than usual–just a bit more planned instruction and activities. But still, I can tell that she really wanted/needed an “official” First Day, so tomorrow is it. October 1st! (Hurray for homeschool! Where else could you start when you want, go at your own pace, take a nice long break to welcome a new baby, and make it all fit your schedule and lifestyle?)

More over at the girls’ blog. I’m feeling a bit scattered, as the house is cluttered and there are cleaning chores to be done…no energy…and the mess distracts my brain. Pray for me to focus on the girls and let the rest worry about itself. And be patient with me if I don’t get to my blogging list for a while.

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slipcover tutorial

Just found a pretty good slipcover sewing tutorial, over at CountryHome.com:

Slipcover Tutorial

I really love Country Home magazine, by the way. I’ve borrowed as many back issues as I can from the library, and hope to have a subscription one day.

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simple blinds

A tutorial on how to sew simple blinds. Brilliant, easy, cheap. All you need is some fabric (and not that much) and some hooks.

From one of my new favorite craft/decorating blogs, Two Straight Lines.

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my dream play room/area – and decluttering challenge

I love this play area.

So simple, uncluttered. Nothing beeps at you or lights up at weird times. Nothing smells plasticky. Just great toys for spurring on the imagination. I’m determined to simplify my kids’ play area, organize it, and get rid of toys that I don’t think are conducive to creative play or thinking.

I’m about to embark upon a huge decluttering expedition. Wanna join me? My goal is to declutter every single room in the house, including the garage, before the baby comes. I should probably set more specific goals (bedrooms in June, living room and dining room in July, etc.) but I’m waiting until I see how long it takes me. The basement and the garage will take the longest–that’s where we’ve stored boxes upon boxes of stuff that we just didn’t want to deal with after living so simply (only what we could fit in a minivan) for six months. The stuff has sat there for over a year and a half now! Time to purge!

After I declutter, I will set out to decorate everything. Besides painting the walls, I’ve done almost no decorating in the entirety of this house. The kitchen is the one exception–it was gutted and renovated–and even it needs some sprucing up and accesorizing. I will be decorating frugally; there is no special budget for this. I will paint old things, use money from the sale of my decluttering leftovers, and go dumpster diving, if necessary.

It’s fun and exciting to plan, but can she make it happen?

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