Final leaf raking, chilly outing and thinking putty fun!

The sun is streaming into the front room so gloriously right now! Ivy's over for the day and she, Alida and Terah are hanging out there and offering a steady stream of chatter in the background. Terah is busy making more creations with the thinking putty that has captured her imagination of late. We have many pictures of recent creations, but this is among my favorites of the ones Jason did one evening when he was playing with her. She likes to ask us what she should make and then tries to create that thing. She has spent hours making things during the last week. It's one of the things I like about the kids getting to organize their days. When something just calls for their attention in large quantities, they can follow that urge and see where it takes them. She's been having a lot of fun (and since I started this post both Alida and Ivy have joined her)!

Speaking of fun, wedged between our final leaf raking days, we enjoyed a Sunday outing with Emily and Ivy. Chilly but fun! We visited the Luray Zoo (so Terah and Alida could use a summer reading program coupon and to check on "our" goat). Look who's still there!

Cookie Dough is now the oldest goat in the petting zoo (and sadly one of the meanest). Sigh! We didn't mean to donate a troublemaker. But the owner (maybe to make us feel better?) did say that guests seem to enjoy his antics. He is certainly very skilled at getting as much food out of visitors as possible! Terah was still scared of all but the littlest goat (she worked up the courage for a few pets before we departed). 

From there we went to Storybook Trail for some bike riding/walking, view gazing, rock climbing/exploring, and a picnic. It was much more enjoyable to keep moving to stay warm, so we didn't linger too long picnicking. 

While there and trying to do a family selfie after Ivy and Emily headed home, we discovered a new feature (dual capture) on my phone. So here's us and the view we were enjoying from the one lookout!

Yesterday was slated to finish up the leaf raking next door. We didn't quite get all the leaves/pine needles, but as the sun set we were out of time AND out of leaf pile space or spots for pine needles. So four full days of raking netted us 1 massive leaf pile (17 trailer loads), a new deep layer of pine needles for the swing set and paths to it, many acorns and lots of bedding for the pigs, and 2 loads of leaves that Jason mowed/chopped into the new refurbished place in 1/2 of the carbonaceous shed. 

The leaf pile fun is definitely a big part of why these days are fun family work days - there's a good amount of play inserted here and there. And the younger gals don't like to miss a single opportunity for a trailer ride (Jason got to pick up two very cute hitchhikers!).

We definitely had no time to spare last evening - we unloaded the last batch of leaves as daylight waned. I can't say I was tired of raking leaves as I always look forward to those days in the fresh air. But it was time to bring that project to an end since chicken butchering and hog butchering are coming up. Speaking of which, I hate to confess but I'm going to do so anyway - we had this week nicely planned out until I left the chickens run this morning. Only when I got back to the house did the horrible realization hit me - they were to stay in today for chicken selection and then butchering tomorrow. You CANNOT catch 100-200 chickens that are free ranging. Sigh! Thanks for a compassionate and gracious hubby who worked with me to revise our plan for the week!

Now for an afternoon walk with Kali before the sun goes down. I'm still adjusting to it getting dark shortly after 5 - it sneaks up on me some days, but I do find that I like the longer evenings! 

A new haircut, a new table, a new wood carrier and fall salads!

Here's a few other updates I didn't want to include in my depressing last post about my traffic court experience.

Jason sprung on me recently that he was thinking about cutting his hair (noted nonchalantly as I was headed out for the evening). No warning whatsoever!! He seemed to feel amused by my need to adjust to the idea or be there for the event. But he graciously was willing to wait and this past Sunday he was surprised to realize he had 10+ inches of "extra" to donate. His new doo is very cute on him!

The kids enjoyed using his long ponytails as reins while still attached to his head. Following the cut, while I was trimming up the ends, he had to endure them being used to tickle his face.

When not at the "hairdressers" he's been doing a fair amount of shop work. The long awaited new sycamore butchering table top is nearing completion! He's had this project in mind more or less since we took down the sycamore tree out front and milled into lumber years ago. We are going to be butchering in style this December! Complete with corners rounded for convenient handles and a hole in the middle to put a scrap bucket under. We'll put it on adjustable saw horses so that it can be at countertop height and hours of lard cutting will leave no one with a sore back. Another day or so on it should have it sanded and oiled and ready to go well before December's hog butchering. Now if we can only eat enough to make way for the pork products in the freezer. I'm making food for others as often as I can and trying to prioritize meals that use up frozen stuff. One more round and we'll have all the seeds through the freezer which will also free up considerable space.

And one more new thing. We've got something better than Amazon Prime in our house: my mom!!! A friend gave Jason some canvas to use for a job and Jason was offered the rest of the roll for various projects we could use it for. While over the top generous, he couldn't turn it down. The next day as I was using our old and nearly worn out wood carrier, I wondered if that cloth would be good to use for a new carrier. Jason said it would be great and so I broached the idea with my resourceful seamstress mother. She suggested I bring the canvas up, which I did. Before I knew it she was busy in the common room measuring, cutting and sewing. Within hours, we had a brand new wood carrier and the old one made its way into the trash. Now we just need to burn more wood to use down the indoor supply so I can use it to cart wood for the first time. It's gonna be fun to break it in.

A cold snap is on the way so in addition to having a fire in the wood stove more often, the gardens will soon not be quite as bright green as they are currently. This week, we enjoyed a fall salad of the first baby spinach leaves, arugula and chickweed. It was delicious!

A Cautionary Tale!

Started yesterday 11/16, the day of my court appearance, and finished up today when I'm a little more cooled off...

I guess I will start with a confession. Remember that day that I made the meal for my former CJP colleagues and friends and what a meaningful day that was for me? Well, there was one part of the day that sucked! I got stopped by a cop for the first time ever on my way home. Why? I had my cell phone in my hand! Now I know I should not use my phone while driving. And I admit that I have read a text at a stop light or otherwise done things with my phone while driving that is ill advised. That said, in this particular moment, I did not feel like I was doing anything unsafe or illegal: I've discovered that my alone driving time is a good time to lock the whatsapp speaker on and leave messages for a few dear ones in my life that I want to share things with away from the ears of my curious children. So I had filled the car with gas and locked on the speaker and was leaving such a message while driving. I often leave it on my lap or even the passenger seat but for some reason I was just holding it next to the steering wheel when a cop passed me (or started passing me) only to slow down, turn on his lights and pull me over. Sigh!

My goodness that is a discombobulating experience. I am not about to say that I know what others feel (especially those who are not white or don't have the correct papers or don't speak English as their first language) when pulled over by the police. And discombobulating is very different than dangerous! But it was an eye opening experience to realize how thrown off I felt as I fumbled for my registration and as the officer treated me very brusquely. After leaving me to sit and stew for a long time, he came back and gave me my ticket with a court date - no warning or option to just pay a fine. I did try to ask a few questions about the law and whether I could explain what I had been doing - he basically asked again if I was calling 911. That's apparently the only exception. He didn't care that I wasn't doing anything on my phone. He said they had done a year of education on this, that I had supposedly missed. I knew about the "no using hand held devices while operating a moving vehicle" kinds of signs. But I truly had missed the law change in 2021 that made holding a phone for whatever reason illegal with very little to no wiggle room on the penalty.  

So fast forward to today. I got to experience an hour plus in a US court room waiting for my turn to appear before the judge. I left with one big takeaway: our justice system sucks so bad and makes no sense and seems to reduce many of those who have to interact with it into a number or a case or something altogether not human. I literally felt like I needed to scrape off the feelings it left all over and within me. Sure I'd read plenty about our "justice" system in my courses on restorative justice and I've heard second hand about other people's experiences. But I haven't sat and watched the pageantry in person and tasted how absolutely not restorative it is or experienced how it feels personally (for something so minor!).

In retrospect it feels silly to admit that I actually went into the experience with more curiosity than nervousness about it and with very naive and misguided assumptions that once I explained what had happened I'd be let off with just a warning. And maybe I could even share how dehumanizing the experience with the officer had been and how disrespected I felt. What was I thinking???

As I sat there for an hour and heard other cases, my heart sank and stomach churned. I tried distracting myself with the book I was reading and that worked partly. In some ways it felt weird to listen in on other people's lives being dictated by these people in suits listening hardly at all and just handing down sentences or pardon in some cases. No one was acting outwardly mean, but all just seemed like pawns in this very flawed system. It was a mix of cases of people being brought from jail for their hearing to simple traffic violations. As it got closer to my case (when the officer that stopped me was called to the stand), I found that I was in good company and that this officer was good at catching people holding their phones. I think nearly 1/2 dozen people before me got the same fine. And I watched as the interactions went like this:

Judge: You were stopped for having your cell phone in your hand. Do you plead guilty or not guilty?

Person: Guilty

Judge: Ok, I'm going to give you the $125 fine. You can sit down and wait until they call your name.

Done!

The one person noted that she was on an emergency phone call. That wasn't an exception if it wasn't 911. 

I said guilty but that I misunderstood the law. He used this as an educational opportunity for the courtroom full of cell phone holders to note that the change in the law last year from texting while driving to holding your phone for any reason was very tight and there was little room to modify the fine. That was that!

I waited until I was called to get my paperwork and then stand in the line for the clerk where their credit card machine was broken and I didn't have nearly $200 cash so I will have to mail in payment. The $125 fine became $191 with court costs.

We have the money. I have the time. But what a stupid use of both!! And some people don't have the money or time. There was absolutely no reason for me to show up in a courtroom full of people (all unmasked as colds and covid surge around us) to say the word guilty if it wasn't going to be a conversation. I was so frustrated by the nearly $70 court costs added to the fine. 

Have I changed my phone habits while driving. You bet! But mostly so I don't get caught. And I have stopped doing all the things that probably were more risky and feel glad for that reminder - the being stopped was enough for that (fine was unnecessary). But holding my phone while I talk with a friend is less distracting than trying to hand water bottles to my kids or pay attention to things they are asking or looking at. So clearly this was not a lesson that took into account the nuances of safety or helped me or anyone else think through practical solutions for not being distracted while operating a piece of metal moving at fast speeds. I'm very interested in those conversations. But not interested in people being slapped around for honest mistakes. Ugh!

The girls had come with me for moral support and got to spend the hour plus in the library. Terah was very pleased to get her very own library card!! We then went for the younger two to get their covid booster and to introduce them to Auntie Anne's pretzels, using a Red Cross gift card from my recent blood donation. We are now contemplating all kinds of soft pretzel flavors we could try at home!! So the end of the town trip was much better than the start, but I still felt pretty icky for a good while after returning home. Today is a much brighter day at home, other than having two kids on edge from their shots yesterday and who vacillate between a variety of emotions and states of being. But we are mostly riding the waves ok and glad for a lower key day to recover from yesterday!

Snippets from the last two weeks!

My goodness I washed a lot of dishes today! And that was even with our youngest doing a little stint of them midday. It was one of those days where one little project bled into the next and most of them created dishes!! Jason had a work day away from home and so after doing the animal chores and going for a lovely walk with a friend, I started in on what ended up being a blossoming list of home and kitchen things. I hadn't had a "catch up day" at home for a long time and I could tell. There were seeds to roast, aged cheddar rinds to blend down into our parmesan-type cheese, mint tea to make to use hot to clean out my empty 5 gallon honey bucket, the first spinach to pick along with arugula and chickweed for our first fall salad, milk to use by way of multiple batches of mozzarella and yogurt, and then supper included roasted turnips, roasted cauliflower and a squash cornbread. It was also our designated cleaning day and that started ok but then kinda went downhill when I was feeling a tad abandoned in the job and I'll admit yearning to finish the book I was stuck in. As often happens, I felt like I hit a tight spot (both in terms of time available and my attitude) and then we had a little bit of a break through. In short, on cleaning days we'll all be happy if I set Terah on some organizing project and Alida on kitchen cooking or baking things. Terah did a complete reset on the craft shelf and by the 4th batch of mozzarella Alida was more or less doing it solo and likes making it. Score!!

So backing up, Jason and I were BOTH successful giving blood on Nora's birthday. I was so relieved. As often happens, my iron on the first finger stick was too low. But it was higher on the other hand, so I passed that hurdle. Tip for blood donors: the person checking me in said that levels are often higher in your dominant hand. I don't know if that is true but in my case they always stick my left first and it's often too low and sometimes my right hand comes through for me! It was meaningful to be able to donate together again. I developed quite a complex there for a while assuming I was a super hard stick. The person who took my blood this most recent time assured me that there is nothing wrong with my veins. She said I had great veins and it was probably more about the person sticking me. Whether that was right or not, it was reassuring!

As we headed into November there were some Halloween / Fall festivities to enjoy. We started what Jason and I hope is a new annual tradition - our kids go to Ivy's for a sleepover on Halloween where they have fun getting decked out in their costumes and trick-or-treating and then Ivy returns with them for a sleepover here the next night where we make homemade donuts and do other fun fall traditions (like owl cookies!). I think it was a win win all around, so hopefully we can repeat it! This year we had a very cute friendly witch, a bat and a fall leaf.

This was not Jason's Halloween costume, but I think I have neglected to mention here that Jason is in the process of getting used to a CPAP machine. He does believe he is netting deeper rest and is reaping some other benefits (possible memory improvements), even if many nights he has to ditch it partway through the night if he has any hope of getting back to sleep (it can still sometimes make him feel a bit claustrophobic). Maybe over time, he'll become even more used to it. I think I'm also slowly adjusting. The first few nights were rough for both of us, though I really should not complain. He didn't snore (which was a relief) BUT then I kept waking to make sure he was breathing, as I was still sorting out what was him and what was the machine. The adjustments are very much worth it if Jason is able to get more and better rest. 

And now a few other things from the past two weeks. We'll start with the highlight of our week - our Luca day! We keep extending the time a little each week it seems, because no one wants him to go home! You can see the adoration flowing in some of these. At almost 9 months, he is starting to feel sad when a loved one leaves his presence. It's heartbreaking! 

Another thing thrilling us this fall is our spinach patch!!! Woohoo, look at it go! I don't know when we have last had such a good stand and so big in November. We'll likely need to thin the patch soon, which will net us a bunch of baby spinach for salad. Jason side dressed it with compost, which had it looking spectacular and then we mulched the paths with leaves, which added to it's charm!

We've enjoyed a few more visits here at Tangly Woods - overnight or day guests. And then this week, the 5 of us did a day trip to Oak Spring Garden Foundation where Jason will be doing a two day chicken workshop next spring. He'll be staying in the renovated horse stables pictured here. 

The day was gorgeous! It was a fun trip as a family. But there were also mixed and complicated feelings. It is a place that holds a painful history (some of the stone walls would have been built by enslaved people). And a place that was inhabited by persons with extravagant wealth. Now there are a lot of people doing creative programming and trying to use the land and resources in new ways. But it was strange to be in a place where we felt a lot of resonance with some of what was happening there and like fish out of water in other moments. I imagine Jason will have more processing to do as he gets further into his engagement there. 

Another fun tidbit from life of late is Terah's increased interest in practicing reading. The other night we had a book out and she read me the short first page. Then she piped up astonished, "I didn't have that memorized...how did I do that?" It was a really fun moment where it was clear that words were starting to take on more distinct shape and meaning. Since then, she's been practicing here and there with various ones of us - here she with Kali while Jason and Alida were looking at the Oak Spring flock and I was reading my own thing. 

The two days after our day trip were LEAF RAKING DAYS! When I went to get my flu shot on Friday I told the person it probably didn't matter which arm it was in as both were so sore from raking that I probably wouldn't notice the shot much. That was indeed the case! We put in two full days and our leaf pile now has 10 full trailer loads, the swingset has a new layer of pine needle mulch and the pigs have enjoyed many acorns! Pictured on the side here is the empty space that is now full of leaves. We'll pack it down and get a few more days' worth before we call it good for the year!

Well Jason is back from emptying the milk tank down the road, so I think I'm gonna call it a night. I'm the bedtime buddy and companion, so I think I'll be snuggled up reading with the younger two here shortly. Jason has worked the last two days on the final construction job of the year. We then hope to turn our attention to a few things on the home front before he dives into his 2023 list! For now, I'm eager for a day at home together tomorrow! A pizza supper is on the calendar, likely with some more episodes of The Voice "to the side!"