Draft 2021

We've had two 6-egg days in a row this week! I've been able to gift some of our beautiful eggs to a couple of dear friends, one of whom agreed to babysit Ivy until Michael gets home today. By Thursday morning, I realized my broken foot could handle no more and called for help. I've had almost two days now that I've been able to mostly stay off my foot. I'm sorry, Mommy. It still hurts and walking is painfully difficult, but with Michael coming home today followed by the weekend, I'm hoping for some improvement. Fortunately, Ivy has been behaving herself at my friend's house. They have an acreage and she gets lots and lots of exercise, so when she's inside, she spends most of her time like this. I miss my baby...

Or, How I Kept My Dog From Killing My Chickens and lived to tell the tale. Ivy's been showing lots of interest in the chickens lately, running from one end of the chicken run to the next, barking and generally carrying on. I knew I shouldn't let her do this, but my mobility has been somewhat hindered by my broken foot . Two days ago, the dogs had been outside for a while and I asked Melissa to check on them. The next thing I knew, there was a shriek of panic as Melissa screamed to me, "Mom, Ivy's in the chicken run!" Have you ever seen someone run with a broken foot? Painfully comedic, it was. By the time I got out to the chickens, Melissa was already there, in her pajamas and stocking feet. We both had dashed out without our coats. Ivy had pulled aside Michael's clever little chicken wire tunnel, the one that led from the coop into the run, and was in a frenzy of chicken chasing. As I waxed rhapsodic about our chicken coop the other day, I failed to mention

We actually had this meal shortly before my husband left last week for two weeks in Chile. Yeah, I know. It must be tough. No, actually, he's working 16-hour days in corn fields. Not really my idea of a good time. With him gone and my foot broken, I haven't been doing much cooking. This meal was incredibly delicious and looking at this photo makes me even more tired of take-out than I already was. We had local steaks, broiled, topped with local onions sauteed in Iowa soy oil and splashed with balsamic vinegar. Just before serving I sprinkled Maytag blue cheese on top. Oven roasted CSA beets and local potatoes rounded out the meal We finished with a homemade (with local eggs) angel food cake topped with blackberry sauce made from a pint of local blackberries I canned last summer. Too bad I forgot to take a picture...

and has a good dose of guilt! So, how does one get flowers twice in one week? It was easy. All you have to do is break your foot, have one child sick with a virus, have the other child only be 11, have a 65-pound, 5-month-old St. Bernard puppy and an older dog who throws up a lot. Oh, and your husband must leave on a two-week business trip to South America. Worth it? What do you think?

Tubleweed Tiny House Company No, this isn't our chicken coop. But ours will look awfully similar once we get it painted this spring. Michael built our chicken coop from scratch. Um, no pun intended. He used internet resources to know how much space 10 hens would need, how many nest boxes, etc. I can't tell you the finer points of the construction, but it was his own design. Most of the lumber was second-hand, some we already had and some from a colleague of Michael's who had recently torn down a building. I think we spent about $200 on supplies. The windows, with screens for predator protection, open for ventilation and let in lots of daylight. The coop even has its own outlet for the heat lamp and water warmer. What I thought would take a couple of weekends to build, however, ended up stretching into two months or more. Meanwhile, the chickens rapidly outgrew the old rabbit cage in the basement. We had to attach our extra-large dog kennel to the rabbit kennel to give the g

I have a major design flaw. Actually, I have more than one, but this particular flaw is causing me a lot of pain right now. You see, I have super-duper high arches. Said arches lead to improper weight distribution in my feet. My right foot, in particular. I found out today that the poor design of my foot, along with walking on my treadmill, are the cause of my recent, and ongoing, pain. X-rays only confirmed what the doctor suspected. I have a stress fracture on the top of my foot. No wonder it hurts so much. I've been limping around since Thursday of last week, trying to manage the dogs, the kids, the household, without bending my right foot when I walk. Not an easy task. I've been popping Aleve , which has helped. So has a nice big glass of Merlot . I now have a lovely orthopedic shoe, designed to keep my foot immobilized, that I am to wear for two weeks; three if I still have pain. So tell me, who's going to take the puppy out to poop at midnight? Oh, and Sarah is still

Footprints in my bathtub Toothpaste in the sink Pawprints on the kitchen floor What am I to think? Dirty dishes stacking high Laundry pile flows Ashes scattered on the hearth Is this how it goes? Beds unmade, dogs unfed The porch? It isn't swept The children? Eating junk food My hair? It is unkempt. Rugs with bits of dog bones covered The upstairs hall? A mess Table surfaces full of mail Whose fault? I must confess... My darling, dearest took a plane Away to Chile he flew Gone for two weeks in the sun Earning money, it's true But me? I have an injured foot My daugher, she is sick The puppy's crazy, the dog threw up This life I wouldn't pick Youngest daughter soldiers on The eggs, she counted four The chicken water must be changed Who'll head on out the door? This isn't the first time he's been gone You'd think it would be old hat But without exercise, due to foot I'm afraid I'm getting fat Five days down, 10 more to go The girls and I'll surv

I don't know why so many people seem to "hate" Valentine's Day. I find it delightful to have a day dedicated to expressing one's love to those near and dear to us. And of course, just because there is a specific day dedicated to expressing love doesn't mean that love can't be expressed every day. Michael left on Valentine's Day for two weeks in Chile. It will be warm, but he'll be spending grueling days in corn fields. Definitely not a pleasure trip. On a last minute trip to the grocery store for dog bones and ibuprofen he also bought these lovely tulips for me. He brought them to me while singing "Besame" a la Andrea Bocelli. Sweet. The girls woke up to big heart shaped boxes of chocolates from Walgreens. I used a prescription transfer coupon that netted me a $25 gift card. The chocolates were free and the love is genuine. I also made a batch of double chocolate brownies for them. Zachary and Stephen got Valentine's wish

This week we had the distinct honor of using our own eggs for our local meal. This was the first week we had a dozen - actually 13 - eggs! I'm sure the excitement will wear off some day, but I think it's far in the future. Michael made us fried eggs and oven fries, a meal we would eat every day if we could. We had locally made butter on homemade whole wheat oat bread. Umm, umm. Our local family-owned dairy, Picket Fence Creamery , milks Jersey cows. The milk is incredibly creamy and delicious, unlike any milk I've ever tasted before. It's always a sad day when we run out and have to buy regular milk from a commercial dairy. The creamery is about a 40 minute drive from us. Though the milk is sold locally in a specialty grocery store, it's substantially less expensive, even figuring in the cost of gas, to drive out to the dairy. We're experimenting with freezing gallons of milk in the hopes that we can do a once-a-month stock up trip. Finally, we thawed another q

There's a light at the end of our debt tunnel. Unfortunately, it's a CFL, so it's still a little dim. But it's definitely better than the deep, dark cave we seemed to be facing a few months ago. Probably the greatest boost to digging ourselves out of debt has been our new attention to detail. We are tracking absolutely every single penny we spend. Then, Michael and I are sitting together in front of our spreadsheets, sometimes for hours at a time, planning, discussing, and working together to dig us out of our hole. All this, and we haven't even been fighting about our decisions. It's all about attitude. We both want to get out of this mess, admittedly of our own making, and eliminate the constant worry and stress that debt causes. The second greatest boost to our debt reduction was the bonus dh got from work. We were almost positive that it would be eliminated this year, so it was a welcome and much needed surprise that the company still delivered. Now, I'm

Dear President Obama, My family and I are quite disappointed in you. No, this isn't about the stimulus (we're glad it passed), and while we're certainly disappointed in the tax foibles of several of your nominees, we regard that less a problem with your judgment than with their honesty. No, Mr. President, my concern hits much closer to home than even a tax credit. You see, we heard that your staffers introduced you to a cookie made here in Des Moines and that you and your wife and children "love" them. Apparently, your staff brought you and your family "Baby Boomer Chocolate Chunk" cookies during the campaign. Word is that you loved them so much that your staff even had them shipped to you and yours even when you weren't in Iowa. Recognizing this as high praise for a cookie, I jumped at the chance to buy a package of "Baby Boomer Chocolate Chunk Cookies" when I saw them in a local grocery store. In fact, I bought three packages of the cooki

Must-have fashion for the trendy lizard in your life...

Michael and I did some local shopping on Saturday, and while it's not as easy as finding a summer time farmer's market, it's still entirely do-able. We went to three different businesses all within 30-45 minutes of home, Picket Fence Creamery , where we bought a dozen eggs, a pound of butter, 12 gallons of skim milk, 1 gallon of whole milk, 2 pounds of egg noodles from Amana, a gallon of cider, and a pound of ground goat meat. Jill Burkhart, the owner, said many people freeze their milk, so we decided to give it a try. I still need to buy eggs, as my hens are only just beginning to lay. From Picket Fence we traveled a couple miles down the road to Northern Prairie Chevre , where we purchased feta, several varieties of chevre, and a bottle of Iowa wine. So far we haven't found an Iowa wine that we like, but I keep trying. Then, we drove to Adel to Wills Family Orchard , where we purchased the most gorgeous Empire apples. I've never had this variety of apple before, b

Our "mini-Spring" here in Iowa seems to have come to an end. I've never been so relieved. What? Me? Who's cold from October to April? Who still wears socks in June? Glad the 60 degree weather is gone? Yup. You see, a funny thing happens when temps warm and the snow melts. Mud. Lots and lots of mud. In fact, a yard full of mud. And these days, a yard full of mud = a house full of muddy dogs. One dog, in particular. Of course, it's my little primrose. While the older dogs love to go outside and play, their shorter coats and smaller feet seem to collect less mud. Of course, Ivy doesn't just run while outside. Every outdoor experience involves rolling, sliding, digging and skidding through the yard. Clean-up sessions might last up to 30 minutes, and involved a bucket of warm water, multiple towels, and immeasurable patience. From all involved. So while today's temps in the 30s have me throwing an extra log on the fire, it is with huge relief. I'll make hot

I seem to be cooking on the fly lately, not coming up with a dinner plan until the 11th hour. This is when I become especially grateful for my freezer. I found a package of leftover ratatouille from this fall. Just enough to make a ratatouille quiche! Ratatouille, a French vegetable stew, is one of my favorites. The batch I made last fall was chock full of local and homegrown veggies, including eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, and onions. Combine it with a few spices and some local gouda cheese and our own eggs and it makes an incredibly delicious crustless quiche. Local green beans, frozen at their peak of freshness, served with a little butter and salt Home made bread... And applesauce streusel quick bread for dessert, made with home canned applesauce and local (purchased from a Missouri farmer on our way home last fall) pecans.

Melissa and I have been taking a rug hooking class. We are two of the four pupils in the class. It's funny, the other two women and I discovered last week that we all live within probably about 1/2 mile of each other. We also share a lot of the same interests, though we are at different stages in our lives. We've talked about wanting to learn how to pressure can, making our own laundry detergent, our crazy puppies, other classes we'd like to take. Small world. Our teacher is a wonderful woman whose boundless energy amazes me. She works two days a week, takes care of her grandsons two days a week, is taking classes and completing projects to become a certified rug hooking teacher, dyes and cuts her own wool, knits, takes care of her older brother's health needs... and more, I'm sure. Something she told us last week made me pause and realize that sometimes I take my relationship with my children for granted. I am always surprised when I hear of the strife my daughter&

Whole wheat chocolate chip cookies Oatmeal bread Applesauce Streusel Bread Apple Butter Bread

Michael and I have put ourselves on the most strict and best monitored budget/spending plan we've ever had. I guess at 54 and 45 we've finally decided to grow up. Anyway, last week I had $70 cash of my weekly spending allotment left and stopped at the grocery store for fresh fruit, fizzy water, dog bones/treats, pop, and bread. Zachary was home for the weekend and served as my human calculator as we weighed out the apples, bananas, oranges, tallied up the cost of the rawhide vs. Busy Bones, and made tough decisions such as skipping breakfast cereal in favor of chocolate chips. We finally got to the bread aisle and it was a sobering experience. One loaf of whole grain bread was nearly $4 and a loaf of not-so-great French bread, intended for garlic bread for dinner, was $3.29. When the kids were little I always bought my whole grain breads at the day-old bread store and saved a bundle by making good use of my freezer. But our tastes have changed, I'd like to think improved, a

at last. This is what Michael sees when he comes home from work at the end of the day. Doggy number one, snoozing peacefully on the couch. Doggy number 2, resting quietly under a chair. Even our recuperating house guest is catching some shut-eye. Ah, it must have been a beautiful day in the neighborhood, he thinks as he surveys this scene of serenity. Then he comes upon Sarah, Melissa and myself, barely able to string together a coherent sentence... laughing madly in the throes of insane hysteria... obviously suffering from some sort of inexplicable derangement. What's a poor husband/father to make of this? What we are suffering is the after-effects of 8 or more hours with 3 dogs. Wally and Gil are mostly easy-going, contributing to the mayhem only when treats are offered, meals are served, or prized toys are stolen. That's right. It's all little miss sugar plum here. Every morning is like struggling with a 60 pound 2-year-old on speed, as Ivy races through the house, deva