Green Tree Hugger

2011-05-02T02:06:00.000-07:00

As I have been focused completely on getting my holistic health consulting business up and running, I have neglected my personal blog. I will try to share more things here in the future, but for now, there may just be the occasional post, for nobody to read :-)

2010-07-29T12:24:00.001-07:00

The farmer may only be planting a seed, but if he opens his eyes he is feeding the whole world.

~ Omaha Bee

When you look at the big picture, any person, family, community or government that can find and maintain sustainable food sources will thrive. To be successful and create a surplus of fuel for the people of this world, it starts in the minds of the individual, and trickles down to the masses.

Open your eyes to the idea of edible landscaping and small agriculture. Whether it be a personal vegetable or herb garden at home, a community garden in the city, or supporting a small farm stand, anything that we do as individuals to increase sustainability in our communities is positive.

2010-06-27T19:23:00.000-07:00

Peaceful Parenting

Remember the little things they love to do, and do them.
Take them by surprise every once and a while, it will make their day.
Breathe in twice when they make you mad, and 5 times when they make you really mad.
Talk to them as if they understand everything, and they will come to understand EVERYTHING.

2010-06-26T18:02:00.000-07:00

Thoughts of a Poor Organic Gardener

Instinctive gardening
follow my thumb's intuition
watering, nutrients, lighting, Ph

Learn by doing - experiment and troubleshoot
research questions about pests and nutes

Love it, enjoy the work
meditate while watering...
Send your love to the plant any time you touch it
walk by and say hello, talk to them, they listen!

Basically create ideal environment for a plant
loamy nutrient rich dark soil for most plants
Know that some want more water or less
and the soil really guides the water retention
but so does the pot and the gardener

2010-06-26T17:03:00.000-07:00

Diary of a poor organic farmer
6/7/2010

Had to seriously amend my soil today after loosing all of my baby plants (60+)
When I repotted them all last week at about 1 inch high into soil reclaimed from my forest floor. Knowing it was acidic b/c of the pine needles, I went ahead and did it anyway with the notion of fixing the soil immediately.
That next morning I sprinkled baking soda on each plant, then soaked them to infiltrate the deeper roots.
After the shock of the transplant,they all seemed happy, then it hailed. It was too much for the fragile things... so sad, need to restart.

So early June here in the mountains seems to be the best time to plant -
since there is danger of frost around here up until Memorial Day, which was last weekend.
So I feel I am right on time, maybe it was meant to be....

NEW SOIL
Mixed 2 flats of 12 gallons each

50 % Loamy topsoil - reclaimed from forest floor
10% pebbles & sticks & small roots
40% red clay soil, not compact, fluffy

2 gallons mix of potato skins, coffee grounds and peanut shells
2 gallons fireplace ash
2 gallons hay bits

Even though the coffee grounds are acidic, I didn't worry too much because it was only about 2 cups worth and I needed the texture, since I couldn't find any sawdust.

DD was kind enough to help out with the mixing of the last batch and filling of 15 pots.

I will reseed all my pots tomorrow and start and seedling terrarium for all the tomatoes and herbs, just to get a boost on growth.

2010-03-15T22:19:00.000-07:00

Jed Smith State Park - Gateway to the Redwoods

Spring is coming and the family can't wait to enjoy the Redwoods again. We are so lucky that we can drive there for a day-trip. The weather was in the 60's the last few days and the sun is shining - woo hoo!!

2009-12-05T22:14:00.000-08:00

"Be broad minded,
Whole, without relying
On others."
~ Hongzhi Zhengjue

2009-11-22T12:33:00.001-08:00

The ultimate measure of a person is not where they stand in moments of comfort & convenience, but where they stand in times of challenge & controversy.
~Martin Luther King, Jr.

2009-11-17T10:13:00.000-08:00

Clinton Wish

President Clinton says he wishes there weren't term limits on the presidency and that he would have preferred to be taken from the White House in a coffin.

He forgets how close Hillary was to granting him that request.

- Jim Barach

2009-10-29T01:45:00.000-07:00

13.1 billion light-years away...
observations of a gamma-ray burst from a star that died 13.1 billion light-years away
~ See the red dot?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Professor Tanvir led an international team studying the afterglow of the explosion, using the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) in Hawaii.

Swift detects around 100 gamma ray bursts every year

He told BBC News that his team was able to observe the afterglow for 10 days, while the gamma ray burst itself lasted around 12 seconds.

The event, dubbed GRB 090423, is an example of one of the most violent explosions in the Universe.

It is thought to have been associated with the cataclysmic death of a massive star - triggered by the centre of the star collapsing to form a "stellar-sized" black hole

2009-10-19T14:48:00.000-07:00

"Dreams are necessary to life."
~ Anais Nin

Having dreams means nothing if you do not try to reach them.
~ Christen Peattie

2009-09-26T10:14:00.000-07:00

Pileated Woodpecker

We heard a knocking.... and found one of these beautiful birds in an old oak tree. He was big, the size of a raven! It already had made 3 holes the size of a baseball. He must have been loving that tree for a while. The amazing thing to me was he did not leave right away, since they are apparently shy creatures. Maybe he didn't hear us, heehee.

Unfortunately he has not come back in a month and I think he has found another part of the forest to call home.

2009-09-26T10:02:00.000-07:00

Found a pair of these nesting in a tree at our new home. They stayed for a few months and now have moved on. I miss them. They were so sweet.

I think they moved because of the ruckus (dogs, cats, kids, people and cars.) They were right above where we park on a regular basis. I feel horrible putting them out, but I am sure they found a nice tree somewhere in the neighborhood.

Flammulated Owl

2009-03-24T23:13:00.000-07:00

Northern California
Mendocino, Lost Coast, Smith River

Check out the photos of our fun trip to the Northern Coast of California and some sleepy towns in the area - Beautiful!!!

2009-03-20T01:52:00.001-07:00

Fun at the stables
(click to see scrapblog at this site)

Our good friends in San Diego have finally purchased a beautiful friend for their equestrian daughter. He is so sweet. Such a great, mellow demeanor, he even let the baby pet him... What a charmer!!

2009-03-20T00:03:00.001-07:00

Riverside,CA

2009-03-19T23:57:00.001-07:00

Norco, CA

2009-03-19T23:55:00.001-07:00

San Francisco

2009-03-08T03:45:00.000-07:00

We had a blast in San Diego!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cpeattie/sets/72157614955379720/

We managed to squeeze in quite a bit on this leg of the trip -
Balboa Park Air and Space museum, Legoland, Beach, horsepark, friends house....

2009-03-07T23:59:00.000-08:00

Scottsdale, AZ photos
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=19470&id=1231674347&l=a7712

2009-03-07T22:42:00.001-08:00

Las Vegas photos
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=19151&id=1231674347&l=5a5a4

2009-02-19T23:23:00.000-08:00

TRAVEL BLOG

26 days on the road was very challenging with 3 kids, but we made it a ton of fun!!

We started our trip in Grants Pass, OR looking for homes and found a few we fell in love with!! We will be going back there soon to purchase, we were just getting a feel for the area of town we wanted to live in, etc...

We then went to our friends house in Redding, CA. They just had a baby, so it was great to meet her and see them again. We did get to see them this summer up at their 150 year old mining cabin in the Trinity Alps, during our July adventure.

Then we moseyed our way down Hwy 395 through Reno,NV and all the way down the East side of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, some beautiful area there. One of America’s great scenic routes for sure. You drive right by Mt. Whitney, and a bunch of little forgotten towns that had their heyday during the gold rush.

We took the scenic route 163 through Death Valley – Gorgeous colored clay mountains (reds and greens and blues and purples of every shade – amazing!) One of the tours we took was called “Artist's Pallet” if you could imagine what that looked like. We also loved the history of Death Valley. with the mining and gems and pioneers paving the way to the West. We even found a little town of 50 or so (that’s what it said on the sign) called Darwin. He LOVED it - a lot of mine shafts covered with dilapidated shacks and some make-shift houses made up the whole town. Most had broken down trucks and mining equipment in the front yard, and some had wonderful reclaimed material sculptures. It was pretty cool, like a living ghost town.

Then we stayed that night in Las Vegas. We walked around the strip until about 2 am with the kids – they had a blast! Ended up staying in a cool casino called Treasure Island – with a pirate theme and 2 full size pirate ships out front. It was across the street from the Venetian, which was like going to Italy – so cool!

After about 5 days of traveling we finally made it to Goodyear, AZ where Ken’s parents live; just SW of Phoenix. This was our destination. We had a nice extended visit with them. His parents mustered the energy to take us to a local World Wildlife Zoo – it was really a great collection of animals, more like a wild animal park than a zoo. Peacocks running all over the place – the kids fell in love with them, and I did all over again. They are my favorite animal - so it was a treat for me. It was hard for Ken leaving his parents knowing that it will be forever before we see them; it was bitter sweet, since we were itching to hit the road towards home.

This was just the 1/2 way point on our adventure – we covered so much more after this....

We went to San Diego Old Town and Balboa Park and Air and Space Museum with a great special exhibit of Da Vinci’s inventions in working interactive replicas. AWESOME!

Then we stayed with good friends in Carlsbad, and luckily had a wonderful warm day at the beach (it rained almost everyday of our whole trip – it followed us). We spent Darwin’s birthday at Legoland – which was perfect perfect for him :-) It was nice to be back to our old favorite places. When we lived there for 5 years we went there a ton.

We then went to Riverside to meet up with my old high school buddies, that I haven't seen since I had kids, so it was so good to meet their families and see them again.

Then we met my cousin and her new baby in Norco, and had a very brief visit with her. Next time we will make a point of taking a few more days to catch up. It was great to see her as a first time mom, and so fun to witness her in action.

Next we surprised Darwin’s godfather in San Francisco at his new café. That was funny. We also did the Fisherman’s Warf and Ghirardelli Square which the kids loved, of course :-) We didn’t manage to take the trolley cars though, it would have been $50 for all of us to take a round trip ride – the prices tripled since we were there last, and we just didn’t have it in the budget – bummer, but we will be close enough in our new home to go there for the weekend, so another time, for sure.

After that, we took the scenic route to Mendocino, one of our favorite places in the world. It is a great Victorian and modern mix of houses right on the cliffs – gorgeous vista views right on the rugged Pacific coast. It is a really unique little artist colony that we spent most of our honeymoon at, so it has a fond place in our memories. It was really special to share with the kids.

We next drove through Ft. Bragg, and the Mendocino wine country stopping at a few really small yummy organic wineries. One of the tasting buildings we went to was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, so it was neat to stumble upon.

We then took an out of the way dirt road tour of the coast through the Humboldt Redwoods – so worth the time!!! And of course took a few hikes along the way. The kids loved climbing on the fallen trees – and I got to admit, no matter how many times I have been to the Redwoods I am utterly impressed and struck with awe.

We spent a day in a little victorian town called Ferndale that has a great kinetic sculpture museum and a hilltop cemetery that is right out of a Tim Burton film - best views in town.

We then made it to Crescent City, the North Redwoods. The significant part about this place is the Trees of Mystery – you hike through the oldest trees in the state and can take a Gondola Tour over the forest. AMAZING! They lined the hiking path with chainsaw carvings depicting the story of Paul Bunyan – they are really well done and it was fun to walk through – they were huge, by the way.

We then took an inland scenic route following the Smith River to Grants Pass, through parts of Northern CA that we haven’t seen before – and loved it. It was so much fun checking out our future stomping grounds, making plans to see certain areas again for quick getaways.

When we got back to Grants Pass we spent a few days shopping around for new listings and really getting a grip on the town layout and surrounding communities. But by this time we were really ready to get back home and bee-lined our way back, very few stop-overs.

I have tons of pictures and plan to put a travel blog together, I will be posting pictures here as I find the time.

2008-12-05T21:16:00.000-08:00

I need stimulation, mind-play, self-checking, living in the human realm, outside of the daily childhood banter; as wonderful as it is.
Fun and stimulation is all I crave.
The need for life outside...

2008-11-20T20:32:00.000-08:00

Daily Affirmations

Be the best I can at everything I do.
Treat and love all my kids equally - hug one at a time.
Rub and kiss them every morning and night.
Do not react quickly to anything - stop and think.
Treat my mind and body well, everyday.
Stretch and Breathe.
Set routines.
Don't worry!
Be patient...

2008-11-16T12:43:00.000-08:00

Amongst ourselves
there is
no one...

Together
we are
the world...

2008-11-15T01:51:00.000-08:00

Change, flux - Improvement

Continuity, consistency

Inclination for success

Justification for the best

Live, work, play

Eat, drink, sleep

Create, dismantle

Civilry, calvary

Constant flow of Energies

2008-11-12T20:26:00.000-08:00

A conundrum - war
A desire - peace
A need - love

2008-10-24T02:03:00.001-07:00

Very interesting

Earth = 12.76 x 10+6 = 12,760,000 meters wide
(12.76 million meters)

Plant Cell = 12.76 x 10-6 = 0.00001276 meters wide
(12.76 millionths of a meter)

2008-10-13T19:34:00.000-07:00

Online Action Center
https://www.environmentamerica.org/action

Everyday there is a letter you can send to the government, encouraging them to do the right things on capital hill, protect our homelands, and save the earth we ALL live on.

What a great opportunity to have this site up for us to use so conveniently. This makes life so much easier for those of us who are usually too busy to stop and find a cause that is in a current state of crisis, write a letter, find who to send it to, find a stamp and envelope, and get it out to the mail box in time for today's pickup. Sounds so involved, doesn't it?

Please see to it that you start caring more, about yourself and your world.
Find a cause, and do something about it.

2008-10-09T21:44:00.001-07:00

Try and read this - if I can, so can you.

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh?

2008-10-04T00:12:00.000-07:00

Email from Neice:

http://rockthevote.com

Hey Everyone!
I just wanted to remind you that the deadline to register to vote in the November election is October 6th (Monday). If you are not currently registered or need to update your address, go to rockthevote.com and fill out the form and put it in the mail. It does not take but a few seconds!

Also, for those of you that don't like waiting in line, I would recomend that you go to govoteabsentee.org and fill out the application for an absentee ballot. You don't need any reason for requesting one and they can mail you your ballot that you return in the mail to count as your vote!

If the lines are too long for this unprecedented election, many people will be unable to vote. Most employers only allow one hour for their employees to go vote, and many people would risk losing their jobs if they stayed longer. If more people voted by absentee ballot, we can help reduce this and allow more people the opportunity to cast their votes.

Just a thought!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

-Ashley

Email to Neice:

Hey Ash ~

I love to see that you are doing this. I totally agree that some people are not able to risk their jobs to vote.
In OR we all vote absentee, for every election, even local shit. I think it is due to the seasonal and migrant fishing and logging industry workers, mainly, but I also think that this is a notoriously apathetic state, and they do it so people actually vote.

I would love to see more women, who have the divine privilege of voting in our society, get off their asses and vote. Most I know that skip the opportunity do so because they think they are too busy with work and home life being so demanding all the time. I hope the mail-in option catches on, nationally; and the women of this country, in particular, make a unprecedented turn-out for this extremely pivotal election.

Love hear from you anytime. Please join facebook, like your brothers and cousins and aunts and uncles and, and, and.
Hope to see you soon.
Love, Auntie Chris

2008-09-29T00:11:00.000-07:00

I know you've heard "It's all a conspiracy!" before, but really folks, does any of this make real sense? Have you ever tried to connect the dots? When you really stop to take a good look at what the government and media is saying about our current economic crisis and wars being waged - how plausible is it that they have such involved and sophisticated solutions within days of major crises? They must know what is going to happen sooner than we do. The corporations are in charge of this country right down to our current cabinet, and support structure. Businesses benefit from wars and financial downfalls.

Its like we are only get a few pieces of the puzzle and they aren't even giving us the right picture to work with...
How many people really know the true picture?
How many pieces are we supposed to have anyhow, 50?
Well, I only got 10.

Do some reasearch

Both sides of the election -
http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/index.html

Economic Crisis -
Treasury Would Emerge With Vast New Power
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/29/business/29bill.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin

2008-09-26T15:46:00.000-07:00

He who dares not offend cannot be honest.

- Thomas Paine

Some people have problems with the truth - in giving it or receiving it.

To sum up my plight, I am honest, sometimes too honest. One thing I am not is a LIAR. No fabrications here folks. You can come to me if you really want to know if your butt looks big in those jeans - I will not be able to hold back the truth.

I have come to believe in my lifetime that there are truth seekers, and those that sweep things under the rug.

2008-09-23T20:22:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted here in a long while. Hope that I can get my thoughts out here, and share a few moments of my life in the process. After living a few hectic years, having a baby, going to school and homeschooling 2 kids... I was not sharing the craziness. I think it is time for me to start my blog again.

At this junction in my life I have finished school and am now officially a Holistic Health Practitioner. I still need to sit for the national boards to become a certified Holistic Nutritionist, but I don't need to rush it right now. I can finally just focus on my home life and home schooling for the first time in several years.

I plan on starting my career with writing and getting my hours logged as a nutritional educator. So my endeavors now will be in planning a recipe book and creating articles to submit to magazines and websites. Once we have completely transplanted to our new destination, I will crank out a few seminar courses and offer them to the general public. I figure that will be a good way to introduce myself to our new community.

It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it.

- Lena Horne

2007-03-01T00:16:00.000-08:00

This is a great site that I came across today and wanted to share with you all. Very intuitive artwork based on current American use of resources. Enjoy!

Depicts 106,000 aluminum cans, the number used in the US every thirty seconds.

http://www.chrisjordan.com/current_set2.php?id=7

2006-12-01T23:25:00.000-08:00

It has been awhile since I posted anything, so sorry about that, but life has been extreme for us these days. We have been going, and I mean going like a whirlwind for about 3 months now. We have traveled near and far and explored the world around us, as much as one little family can in due time. We have managed to see the whole West coast this year - plus AZ, UT and ID.

Let's see -

We went on a spontaneous "weekend" trip, in early Sept. to Seattle. That turned out to be 6 days and the whole WA coastline, plus some islands in the Puget Sound. Gorgeous! We of course only have 35mm of that trip since we didn't think ahead to charge the digital, so no pix to share of that trip yet.

Then we went to the OR coast aquarium in Newport for M's 4th, in late Sept. Of course stopped at every point on the coast between here and there and back again, camping each night. Totally fell in love with the Central coast. Cape Meares and Cape Kiwanda seem to have left the most impressions on us. Some really great communities down there, but just as removed from civilization.

We most recently went to CA to visit friends and for K to do some work - Redding (10 days), Redwoods camping, long boring Central CA drive to San Diego (14 days) then off to AZ to see parents, then Zion Nat. Park in UT, then long boring drive through ID and Eastern OR. All in all this trip was 3800 mi. We did get the luck of purchasing a new family vehicle for the long haul, and it was a wonderful thing for us. We had long out grown our small Subaru. We loved seeing dear our friends and catching up was long over due. We had some fun in the Redwoods, and Zion and AZ on the way. Unfortunately, we missed our animals terribly and 27 days was way too long to be away from home, for all of us. I managed to homeschool the children and keep up with my school work too, somehow. Diligence and fortitude, right ;-)

MONTEZUMA'S CASTLE [somewhere in AZ]

I will post more on this trip later. We have some neat pix. Just wanted to catch all y'all up on what's up with me and family.

2006-09-06T01:07:00.001-07:00

"Ego has no place in rational discussion. I think it's important as a culture to become more thick-skinned and see things as they are, not as they are in relation to ourselves."

~ Gloredhel (fellow Buddhist homeschooling momma)

I try to step aside in awkward or stressful situations and just "be." Things don't always work out the way I prefer, but this definitely helps me to process and move on.

Next time life tries to slap you in the face, just "be" and see what happens. You will be greatly surprised how much effort it takes to react to a situation versus watching the situation resolve itself naturally.

Life is funny that way, things always seem to work out. Try to stop fighting the process.

2006-09-05T22:26:00.000-07:00

Hello, all 2 of you~

I have not written in awhile for a few reasons: life is crazy busy, and my wonderful neighbor somehow reverse checked my email and found my only outlet for my angst!!! What a loser, does he have nothing better to do, but look at what I am doing? I haven't posted anything due to this violation, hopefully he has moved on with his life by now.

Ken and I have been busy looking for a new house, mostly because of said loser, but also because we seem to somehow attract them in this wonderful place, like flies. I didn't want to say anything about the hunt because I would rather him not know anything that we are doing, but who really cares what HE thinks after all. We just don't want him to be more rude and invasive then he already is. The last time the cops came to my house though, it seems they may have finally told him to leave us alone; because I had it, I cracked and called him a bad name - and he called the cops on me - it was great. I have never been in trouble before, it was kind fun!! They told me to never talk to him and don't let him get to me, since that is what he truly wants - to irritate. They also got an ear full from me about how the situation has escalated to this point and they have taken almost 2 years and 10 cops to actually hear what I was saying - " this guy is a bully and is trying to claim our property, and that we are guardians of the house we live in and we are looking out for the best interest of the owners, in the long run..." Surprise! Our great officers of the peace have really impressed me now.

Overall, we are not loving it here in this town, and the family has come to a consensus that we are searching for a better place. We will stay put for now and save up some money until the day comes. No worries, that is just life sometimes. We are making lemonade of it, taking trips and learning about new places in the NW. We know we really like it in the coastal areas up here - gorgeous; just where we like seems to be the issue. There are many great communities around here. We just want to find one that offers plenty clientele for both Ken and I (construction and alternative medicine) and activities/schools for the kids (neither of which are very good here.) Coming here has definitely given us the opportunity to catch up on life and get to a good place in our marriage, so there are some benefits to dealing with strangeness in the world, you can actually befriend your mate in the process ;-)

Moving on....

We are staring our 4th year of homeschooling D. I am really nervous and excited. I start school again this month, having 6 weeks off for summer with children, which was nice. Plus, this year I have the added bonus of pre-schooling M. Finding activities for her outside the house seems to be a little easier in this town, luckily. We are doing a children's choir and tap dance this semester. D is a little harder to provide activities for, but we have him doing soccer this season and maybe we will try jujitsu again after that, since the instructor seems to have a kids class finally. We stopped going due to the fact that he had no kids in the classes regularly and D was stuck grappling with 6 ft. men 3 times his size. Not cool! He actually came home with a pinched nerve one time, it was scary.

Anywho, I have babbled enough. Just wanted to give a quick update on the blog. I will be trying to post more frequently now. I truly enjoy the writings, and I need to have a place to put all my thoughts, whether or not anyone reads them is another issue. I plan on at least leaving quotes and quips on the bloc for viewing on dry days. Those I am full of - I have been meaning to write a book, and someday may. Until then, I have this tiny bloc....

2006-07-10T00:17:00.000-07:00

Amazing optical illusions within the real space of buildings. These are pure artistry. Imagine the mind at work here...

http://mightyillusions.blogspot.com/2006/03/3d-painted-rooms-illusion.html
Checkout the link for more cool images.

2006-07-09T23:45:00.000-07:00

Wow! I took this online color quiz. It took a few minutes of my life, and I like color; so thinking not much of it I gave it a wirl. Surprisingly it was quite accurate for my current personal life:
Working on finishing up this semester's classes - almost done. Dealing with shitty neighbor situation. Looking for new home - getting warm. Husband working way too much for the last several months - stressing out. Dealing with bored summer children everyday - aggravating and time consuming, yet somehow fun. The list goes on.....

Try it yourself, if you dare.

2006-06-26T11:35:00.000-07:00

WHEN NEIGHBORS DON'T GET ALONG - This is a legal option ;-)

2006-05-30T17:10:00.000-07:00

Puppy tails!!

We just got a dog this Saturday. He is kind and gentle and obedient, a pleasant surprise. We think he is a German Short Hair Pointer, possibly a purebred. Very wirey and sprite. Full of love and already answers to his name. He has cow spots and freckles, great wirey hair, and points when he is inspired to do so. Definitely not the Hound/Dalmation mix the pound labeled him as.

His name is Edison, just like the inventor. D finds he is a kindered spirit, since he was sent home from public school and told they couldn't help him also. A fellow homeschooler indeed! We studied many of his biographies and inventions this year. Finding they have many personality familiars, and D being an inventive guy loved really delving into it.

Hard to believe someone dumped this poor puppy in the woods to fend for himself, he is only 6-8 months old! We all feel better, knowing that we are giving him a loving home. We searched for the right one, and got lucky. We had to drive to Longview to get him (an hour away) but well worth it.

He is a perfect fit for the family. A little bigger than we originally planned on, but worth the extra efforts. It seems to be our luck with animals for the most part, we find gentle souls.

2006-05-19T10:47:00.000-07:00

Wow!

We really Do live in a beautiful place.

I am so truely happy that my son has passed his state mandated test with flying colors (99th percentile) so now we can explore freely, and just be. The season has started, and we are out of the gates running as fast as we can. We love to be out and about. The family harmony is truly rejuvinated this time of year.

Yesterday we went to Seaside - to the toy store, to the carousel, to the beach, flew our kites, made sand castles, laid down and cuddled, had a bit of a nap and got a bit of a tan/burn - it was wonderful!!! I love home schooling, we can do these sorts of things in the middle of the week, when no one is out really.

Not having any pressures to crunch my son with is a big relief. I still have my own school work to do, but I feel like we can start our summer now. We are still "doing school" though, just not at a break neck pace.

The other day we went for a huge hike and I made press books for the kids to gather any plant they wanted to keep; we collected at least 50 samples between the 2. They had a blast. We came home and organized all the plants, and we will identify them and sort them when they are dry. I want to do this with all the different terrains we have here. We covered the Columbia coastline, we will be doing the Pacific coastline, and at least the rainforest species; I would like to cover the mountain plants too, if we have time. What will be neat is to do all this and then have a Spring sample to compare the other seasons with on future hikes. This is something we can build on over the years. I am very pleased that my kids love to hike, and love plants as much as I do.

To kick off the Plants theme I checked out tons of stuff from the library, and D came home and gobbled up 1/2 the books that day, with M at his side taking it all in. I was so proud. I find that when I cover topics he is interested in, we go through everything like lightning. And M is right along with us the whole way. She is a sponge, and comes up with the most amazing things, days or weeks later, describing the world to me; so I know the retention is there. And she loves it when I quiz her, which I do regularly, just asking about details of things we have done or read about. I love my job (most days) ;-)

HAPPY SPRING EVERYONE!

2006-05-19T10:33:00.000-07:00

That which is loved is always beautiful.
~ Norwegian proverb

I love my garden and have always had a major soft spot for any plants that I may possess. On that note, really, they possess me.

The obsession started as a small child picking weed bouquets for my mother, whom was tragically allergic to them. She had chronic asthma and bronchitis and was allergic to everything under the sun. I don’t think having me around helped, at all.

I have a very compact yard to work with at this house, to my frustration. But I have managed to find a small plot for organic vegetables by moving several trees and tons of ground ivy and I thinkg a million lilies of the valley. I needed to till the top 24" of soil to make it workable and add some new organic topsoil for my own peace of mind. I framed out the plot with stone work and of course threw out my back in the process. But it was all worth every ache and pain. I was so enthralled that I ended up making another small plot right next to the first one, for tomatoes and herbs! As soon as my back recovered that is.

I started everything from seed inside, my dining room looked more like a grow room. About 2 weeks ago I moved all the babies outside, and most of them took pretty well, the last heat snap we had (90 degrees) killed my sweet yellow pear tomatoes though. So at this point I have quite a variety for such a small space: Heirloom steak tomatoes, lemon cucumbers, chinese long beans, shallots, garlic, green onions, butter leaf lettuce, purple basil, sweet basil, thai basil, mint, oregano, cuban oregano, thyme, tri-color sage, liquorice sage, lemon balm, chocolate peppers, pablano peppers, and a row of calendula flowers right done the middle of it all... I used the laws of companion planting this time around, I am curious to see the results.

So far, all the plants are little, but very well loved.

2006-05-09T20:24:00.000-07:00

Altruism??

We here in our house are bored with the daily grind but I always try to stir it up a bit ya know, in order to keep what sanity I have. Something as simple as running errands can be a chore, but Mommy stops at the park along the way while the milk gets warm in the trunk. She's so fun! We love you Mommy! Your are the best!

Well little do they know I am not the best, just trying to earn brownie points where ever I can. If they think the world of me, great, the extra effort pays off. They are not aware, as I am not usually, that I am giving them this chance to run free so they are not crazy monkeys when we get home. It is really self-serving, not fun for them as much as it is a relief for me.

I think most actions we do for others are not altruistic, very little is really, if you think about it. Look at all we do in our days here on Earth. What actions can we put aside to become more universally pure in thought? Act on the notion of Dasein. No ego. No self. Only the universal order or chaos, whichever way you see it. No conventions, labels, preconceptions. Be here now. In that I find my purest moments. I strive for this often, don't usually find it in the mundane buzz of daily life.

Think about it - how much of what we do along our path in life is to feed our egos? Do you do the things you do for you, or for the satisfaction of pleasing others? Is the act of pleasing others in reality pleasing you? Do you like making your kids happy so they will behave better for you, or to just make them happy?

I think it would be nice if we truly put ourselves aside for one day (maybe make it a holiday) and we all did nothing but self giving acts. Not something in the name of others to please our own needs, but completely 100% selfless acts. We would all see ourselves in a different light, and have a pure perspective on things the way they really are. As a whole, we would be better people, that would make for a better planet, I think. Or at least it would lend chance to us finding some universal synchronicity.

Be, just be.... try it, you may like it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Going with the flow:

A Taoist story tells of an old man who accidentally fell into the river rapids leading to a high and dangerous waterfall. Onlookers feared for his life. Miraculously, he came out alive and unharmed downstream at the bottom of the falls. People asked him how he managed to survive. "I accommodated myself to the water, not the water to me. Without thinking, I allowed myself to be shaped by it. Plunging into the swirl, I came out with the swirl. This is how I survived."

2006-05-09T01:44:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my world....

Kids - everything, they are still young
playdates
schooling
clothing
bathing
entertainment
feeding/drinking
cleaning up after
pet upkeep

shopping
cooking
dishes
laundry
housecleaning
maintenance and upkeep

book shopping
page thumbing
researching
creating curriculum
teaching kids homeschool
grading and reviewing

studying for myself
homework
papers
presentations
research
tests

Cooking
Herbalism/Natural Health
Gardening, when I can :-)
Reading - too much
Meditating - as often as possibly, never enough peaceful time though.
TV - only a few shows I like - HUFF, Weeds, Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Carlos Mencia, Daily Show, CSI:Miami (when I catch it) and sometimes ER.

Personal issues and ailments - the list is too long and sad...

Husband never home, friends spread out all over, everyone just as busy it seems.

Still feel new to the area, met a few great people and alot of duds, unfortunately. Don't have much time to see the ones you want...

I keep telling myself that living in a small community brings everything into extreme focus, like a microcosm of the real world. That's is the only logical explanation I have to this place. Trying to make it wonderful for the family, and I guess myself.

Just a snapshot into my daily grind. It is all worth it, since I always seem to have coffee in my cup every morning!!