End of November hightlights!

Before November is in the too distant past, I want to note a few highlights of recent days (I was writing November on all the bills I paid today, in some kind of denial that December is already upon us - which might have been partially because I ran in a short sleeved shirt today)!

The first is that we no longer need our "regular toilet" and we are very excited about that - maybe a bit ridiculously so...  There has been an extra amount of "potty talk" around here, as we all enjoy our "new potty."  There are now two functioning composting toilets on the premises and one recently built outdoor location for depositing our humanure, which to date has been coined the "turd corral."

I have to say that I'm impressed.  It smells less than a normal toilet - not at all.  Jason built a wooden frame to which a regular toilet seat is attached.  A 5 gallon bucket fits inside.  For cover materials we started with pine needles which were neat and easy to use but not quite as absorbent.  We have moved to crushed leaves, free from the city if you scoop them yourself.  They are just a tad bit messier as they are slightly damp but it makes it that you are never going to forget to wash your hands (one particular person in this household sometimes needs such a reminder).  We are getting our system down and enjoying it thoroughly.  I feel so wasteful now whenever I use and flush a regular toilet! :)

We got our composting toilets in working order just days before heading out for a fun, luxurious, much needed family trip to West Virginia for Thanksgiving.  It was a great mixture of play, fun craft projects, naps, hikes, lots of good food and Jason even snuck in some hours of work here and there with dad on the house.  Our minds were often with Jason's extended family as they gathered in Conneticut for his grandfather's memorial service.  It was a hard decision to miss being there in person, but we weren't sure how present we would have been able to be after the amount of time we would have spent en route (Kali is an excellent easy going traveler; Alida needs a lot of entertaining and we also learned on this trip that she gets carsick, to the point of vomiting after mountain number 2).

A few highlights from our West Virginia time via pictures.  It doesn't capture nearly all of the time or the fun projects but you'll get the picture.  I should mention that one of the projects we are particularly happy to have done was making venison tallow candles.  It was so nice to experiment with it with mom close by - I always feel more able to try new things out with her expertise close by.  They turned out great and I feel ready to do them "self" next time (as Alida would say):

Alida was interested in the job getting done in the attic eaves.

The job went so well that we got a couple of walks in - on this particular one I carried the backpack empty the entire way. Someone was a very happy little hiker!

Kali found some snow - you had to watch your back with her around...

One of several projects included matching aprons for Kali, Alida, Deirdre and Zelda.

Kali helped Grandma design a quilt top and then proceeded to help sew it together.

By the end of our time there the top was done - a testament to Kali's lengthening attention span on projects like this!

Yes, we sat still and did something as "unproductive" as playing with a marble racer together. How nice and what a wonderful change of pace

She was sporting her new hair things and her daddy couldn't quite get over how cute she was.

Alida enjoying her first sled rides.  Kali was in heaven!