Another 10 days of tidbits...

Someday I might come up with more clever titles for my posts, but for now this will have to do. And it seems that 10 days is about the magic number when I start to realize there's a lot of things that are quickly becoming old news... So I've come in to dry off from a drizzly morning (come on rain!!!). The pigs are stocked up with weeds to eat throughout the day and I weeded our tiny onion chive patch, which I'm hoping might help shift it from surviving towards thriving?! The kids are still all cuddled in their beds - extra worn out from a fun weekend at Ivy's house. 

In many ways the last 10 days have been chock full of normal things: walks with friends, doula meetings, a family work day, weeding and harvesting and food preparation/preservation, soccer, construction days for Jason, general upkeep of home and gardens and relationships. Here's a mixture of the normal and the seasonal or extra things that these days have held for us.

Newsflash: we are now officially the owners of 2 cars. My parents noted that it was the first time in their married life that they didn't own a car at all and it is the first time for me and Jason that we have owned 2 cars. There will soon be a total of 3 cars at Tangly Woods and that is going to ease some of the transportation challenges with 5 drivers in our household now. My last birth stretched us a bit as I went back and forth from the hospital 3x and had to borrow a car on one and be shuttled back and forth by various family members on the other times. So, as much as we resisted another car to maintain and pay for, it seemed like the writing was on the wall (especially when my parents were ready to part with their car for a different one; theirs being the ideal vehicle for our farm/work/family needs). 

In recent weeks, other than my errand days, Kali has probably been the main user of our car between soccer and trips to the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton. While I'm looking forward to the simplification of our schedule (especially roomier evenings), the girls are NOT happy that we are headed into the last week of the soccer season (and, speaking of soccer, NONE of us are happy that the last episode of Ted Lasso is in two days!). Soccer has been so enjoyable for all of them. It was good to learn that there is a fall season. I've enjoyed watching them play, but maybe even more watching them delight in playing. And I have improved greatly between the first game and now in not "coaching" from the sidelines! Kali gave me the tip she saw on the internet to avoid verbs in your cheering. I've actually taken very few soccer pictures this season (my phone takes horrible zoomed in photos) but did photograph what happens when it's a sunny day and most of us have forgotten sun hats!

The girls continue to have a much fuller life in general in this season - both away from home and at home. Kali and Alida are working at popping popcorn for seed testing at every possible opportunity since we hope to plant their corn in flats later this week. They are attempting to get through all the cups of seed testers (it's a lot but they are within striking range if they keep at it). Yes, we've been snacking on lots of delicious popcorn and sharing it around! I'm thrilled that not only does Kali do her own now (and has for awhile), but Alida has now gotten in the groove of popping it, is very good at it and seems to enjoy it. Yay! Yes, that means I can do OTHER things while they are testing their popcorn! I imagine the sounds and scent of popping corn will be in the backdrop some here on this rainy day - a good day for being inside!

They've also been helping with the first food processing of the year. It seems that one major strawberry picking wasn't quite enough for our household. Mom and the girls went again and got 3 (rather than 5) dishpans full of delicious berries. We have now made the equivalent of 21 batches of jam and are plowing through it! It's so tasty. One of the hallmarks of my own healing from disordered eating has been getting a bit more honest about what I like and to stop trying so hard to like (or pretend to like) the "healthier" versions of things. So this year, we made strawberry jam like I remember it growing up - with sugar! I've done it for years with honey and I'm ready to boldly proclaim that I do not like it as well! I love honey for many things but honey has a flavor of its own and it does not allow for a pure strawberry taste in jam. This year's batches are perfect for my tastebuds!

On a very different flavor note, we are in the thick of "garlic scape season." We've made the one batch of punchy garlic scape pesto that we'll enjoy and are now on to chopping and freezing garlic scapes (our insurance policy if our garlic fails to hold up in storage again this year). I'm SO grateful for extra choppers! The huge bin went down much faster with Alida and Terah's help - especially since Luca had come over the play and hangout and we were all rotating through playing with him and getting to other things. For me the other thing occupying my time yesterday was CHEESEMAKING!!! After having no extra milk for weeks and weeks, I made two kinds of cheese yesterday (including getting a batch of cheddar in the press for the first time in months - we are OUT!). We know that we can do just fine on very little dairy (and know now that Jason does a lot better with very little dairy), but I will also be thrilled to restock the cheddar cheese shelves in the root cellar!

The girls have enjoyed several outings recently that I can only report on from pictures I've seen or accounts that have filtered my way. Terah and Alida enjoyed fulfilling a coupon from Grandma and Grandpa Myers for mini-golfing. Terah told them after that she wants multiple coupons for mini-golfing on her next birthday (I thought she had said 2, but she told me just now that she said either 200 or 12). The girls enjoyed an outing with Emily, Jonas and Ivy to Boxerwood Gardens. They reported that this place was NOT as trimmed as Longwood Gardens by any stretch. While fun, they were not nearly as enthusiastic about that as they were about their weekend at their home. As my phone dinged with pictures coming through, I could see what a lovely time they were having, and a fancy time too!

The least fun outing of all was their yearly physicals this past week. All three had to have repeat blood work done because the office ordered the wrong test last time (argh!). And Alida, the one most like me in terms of her disdain/fear of needles, was due a vaccine. The only part of the appointment that I found entertaining was watching my kids try so hard to not be able to cheat on their eye exams. They all memorize things easily and so for them to all do the same eye test one after the other in the hall did not work. So there were my kids, one taking the test and the other two around the corner holding their ears shut so they couldn't cheat. Then they also had to have the nurse mix things up on the lines because after reading it once they weren't sure it was really testing their eyesight, mostly just their memory. It was also not a surprise to learn that Alida had grown over 3 inches since last year!! (p.s. this was VERY MUCH a staged sad photo - by this point there was mostly relief!). 

Let's get back to cheerier things - time with Luca!!!! Jason is actually getting to see more of him than any of us these days as his current construction job is a big project in the main living space of their home! As someone who lived in a construction zone with young children, I am familiar with how challenging that can be (and that is my hubby that is there making the noise and mess - which, thankfully, then becomes gorgeous new or newly finished wood floors). He's trying to work as many days as he can there to keep the project from dragging on unnecessarily, and I'm doing all I can to pick up things here on the home/farm front. It's sweet to see Luca really wanting to hang out with Jason. 

Often when Jason is there working, he doesn't get to do more than give him a little snuggle hug. So yesterday when he came over and it was a Sunday afternoon, Jason got to play blocks and look at books with him. I have ALWAYS loved watching Jason interact with little people - it is honestly one of the things that I fell in love with first. It makes me swoon and want to have a dozen more babies with this guy. :) Don't worry, no longer possible!

A new Luca favorite at Tangly Woods is blowing bubbles. He knows right where to find them on the windowsill and then takes off to find someone to join him outside. 

And old Luca favorite it Alida. And it sure seems like he might be attempting some variation of her name. 

He got pretty into the hairbrushes the other day and "helped" to brush Alida's hair.

Waking up the girls on Thursday mornings is a continual favorite, including this week playing peek-a-boo with Alida from the top bunk.

He continues to have a high level of focus on all electronic devices and always wants to make sure I know where my phone is. I try to keep the sound down/off when he's around and the phone out of sight (but I'm in an "on call" season for doulaing so it's normally on and nearby). That said, he also seems to have an awareness of what things are not for him to play with. Yesterday he was up playing with my parents for a bit and when I came up they told me he was going around and letting them know all the "uh uh" things - he said "uh uh" for the 1000 piece puzzle my mom was putting together, their big computer and the wood stove. This kiddo doesn't miss much!! And we love him so much. It was fun to have him around yesterday on a Sunday afternoon where we are all around and puttering on various things, all taking turns playing with him or involving him in what we are up to (though Jason did give up on collecting eggs with him after 2 eggs!). 

Before Luca came over we had some birthday festivities at Tangly Woods for our member who is entering his 80th year on planet earth!!! We are so glad that he'll be spending much of it with us! He started his first full day as a 79 year old by doing animal chores in the rain. His presence with us is enough, but we don't mind the many practical ways he chips into life here all together (whether it be regular animal chores or keeping up with our paper and cardboard recycling or borrowing our car key so he can sweep ours out for us since he knows it never makes it to the top of our priority list or keeping us posted on our bird neighbors and friends). We hope those things can continue in the next year, not most importantly because they are helpful to us but more so because it means he is continuing to enjoy good health and the ability to be active and involved in many aspects of our life together! I hope for that for both of my parents. One of the reasons I get this blog written as often as I do is that these days come around where I know that we'll all be treated to a delicious supper that I don't have to do anything to get it on the table. It's a Tangly Woods' meal night up at my parents tonight so my whole day feels just a bit roomier. Meals is one things, but then there's the cleaning of strawberries to prep them for jam making or stripping the oregano off the stems once they are dried and so much more!

Here's some images of the things that always take precedence over things like car cleaning - the gardens! And they are bursting forth at this time of year! We had our main family spring garden planting day recently. Let's see if I can even remember all that went into the ground that day. Jason had done some of the compost spreading and bed prep ahead of time and then the 5 of us descended to help get things planted after morning soccer games. We planted out all the kinds of tomatoes and peppers, basil plants, sweet potatoes (two varieties), and the girls' flowers and our marigolds. Then we seeded dill, okra, cucumbers, trombone squash, delicata squash and cantaloupe. This past week while the kids were gone, Jason and I got all the bush and pole beans in, as well as carrots seeded. Next up will be dry bean and corn planting, after the potatoes are hilled for a second time and once we are a bit farther away from when our neighbors planted their corn across the way (trying to do what we can to not have our corn cross with GMO corn - all we can do might not be enough but we are trying...).

Like every year, some things are doing GREAT! The rye is taller than Jason can reach. AND some things are doing awful - onions again. :( We are trying neem oil this year for the first time and only did it on one onion bed at first (top bed) and now are doing it on both as it seemed to help. It's so discouraging. At least we know it is not our starts, as Jonathan and Christen's onions (starts from us) look amazing!

Well, the day is underway for all four of us now! I've taken a break to read some to Terah and Alida and get breakfast started for them. I'm wrapping this up while they eat and then have promised to help a very impatient Terah go through her sweatshirts. We had gone through all their clothing drawers the other day and she is eager to finish up some of the other clothing items stored elsewhere. It was most of a day with them trying on (and no longer fitting) many things. We all get a little loopy on days like this! But it also feels good at the end when they can find the things that fit once again and we can pass on the things that don't.

Here's a few final tidbits! It's getting to the time of year when the chickens are getting less attention as new ones hatch. No one runs to the incubator as fast when the first pip happens. It's become common news... The last incubator load is done and now it's just small clutches under broody hens. There's a lot of birds of all ages/sizes out and about now - we'll soon hear the oldest new roosters from this year attempt their first crows. Alida is taming the chicks that reside in her coop and they now definitely associate humans with possible treats! It's kinda fun to be walking to the shed and all of a sudden have a bunch of chicks on your heels. 

Jason was very pleased to note this week that it seems that our pigs have learned to read. He found this in the bottom of their slop pan after breakfast!

That said, after putting it on Facebook, at least one friend wondered if instead the pigs were trying to give us a message about them. Speaking of messages, I'm glad that Terah helps me keep my priorities straight when I'm crafting my to do list for the day!

I'll end with a few just "just because they are cool" photos again. These often come from the ones I download off Jason's phone. It's fun to see what captures his attention/imagination when he is out and about. I know that the vast majority of the garden/grain photos are texted to a dear-grain-loving-friend who shares his passion and sense of urgency around having seeds/crops that are adapted and ready to grow in an rapidly changing climate/context and that will be essential to feeding people in uncertain/turbulent times.

We'll see if I get back to this space before another 10 days passes. Hopefully in that time I'll have put my new peanut ball to use! I'm eagerly awaiting accompanying two families in the coming weeks in the birth of their baby. I still don't know the future of doula work for me or the scale to which I'll feel able to dive into the work now or ever, but I have loved working with every family I've been privileged to accompany. The trio of families this spring was no different. There is something so sacred and transformative about the transition spaces in our lives and adding a new family member is a big one. It's beautiful and hard and shows our strengths and areas of challenge in striking ways. Witnessing and supporting an individual, couple or family in one of those times feels like both a big responsibility and a unique and really special opportunity. I treasure each relationship and hope that I'm contributing as much as I'm learning through them allowing me into this space in their lives.

PS. This week I was introduced to the work of Gabor Maté via his guest appearance on the 10 Percent Happier podcast. There's a lot I could say about all of that and it has been a catalyst for some really vulnerable, beautiful, important conversations between me and Jason. We both loved so very much the epitaph that he notes wanting to be on his gravestone: "This was much harder than I anticipated!"

10+ days worth of news

I've been writing this blogpost in my mind for a few days now and it just keeps getting bumped. I probably won't finish it now, but it seemed worth starting it when things feel pretty real! A Covid exposure for a dear friend changed our plans for hanging out tonight and so I had a few moments while the girls were at soccer to vent to Jason. It's been a string now of overwhelming days, where I feel like I'm working in a state of slight panic much of the time. Listening to podcasts, I've realized, is a bit of a coping strategy to occupy my mind so it's not spinning out of control with the list of things I "need" to accomplish. When I was contemplating shifting away from CJP work, one of my fears was that Jason and I would just swap places (he would start earning money off farm and I would then need to try to fill his shoes on farm - not easy shoes to fill). That's not exactly happening, but he's even more busy than he was before and I'm more busy than what feels doable/sustainable for me (especially when I'm working with multiple doula clients). Last evening, I was talking to dear friends who I'll be accompanying in birth soon and we were talking about life overwhelm. I was struck by a comment one of them made about how we've created this life. It's so true. We are friends with so many others, like us, who have intentionally crafted a life that is really not sustainable for the humans (which often creates tension between those humans who intentionally crafted said life). On top of that, I really do not say "no" easily or relax in spaces that are begging for my time/energy/attention. So it's a bit of a doozy right now. With that said, here's the visuals that portray the wonderful life we are living without the soundtrack of stress and anxiety that I struggle to pause in some seasons. And I usually do feel better in the mornings (as my father would often tell me), especially when we are greeted with beautiful mornings like this one.

Earlier in May, we enjoyed an evening around the fire with Emily, Jonas and Ivy. Kali made several DELICIOUS soups and then we topped off the evening with s'mores (or some went from soup to s'mores and back to soup). It's been harder to find cooking days for the girls with their soccer and ushering and social lives, so it's such a treat when it happens!!

Evenings by the fire are lovely and the weather has provided good opportunities. I still wish I was better at just enjoying the lushness and beauty all around us, without the projects and things undone dominating what I see. The world around us is bursting forth with green rapid growth. 

We've been getting less pig scraps (no extra milk and not much bread) in the last few months, so our pigs are subsisting primarily on veggie and fruit scraps fermented in a salt water brine and grass/weeds. We have PLENTY of the latter and they are growing just fine! It's interesting how each group of pigs we get seem to have a unique food culture. Jason tries different things and things that were winners with some pigs aren't touched by others. This trio like goldenrod!!

Speaking of growing things, I attended the first birthday party of one of my "doula babies" recently and then got to care for another one on the eve of her first birthday. It was more meaningful than I even anticipated to get to spend some hours with her, including a long snuggly nap, to reflect back on last spring. I experienced waves of gratitude that I'm feeling in a more steady place this spring (despite what the first paragraph here might lead you to believe about my mental state!). It was also fun, after spending so much time with Luca, to be around another little personality and get to know Violet better. She's a big fan of Terah and of Goodnight Moon!

Today was a Luca day here and it was mostly just me and him since all three girls had other activities happening at various points in the day. Maybe that's why he took nearly a 3 hour nap in my arms. When he is awake, he is going nonstop and pointing at everything. He loves playing with the marble racer (about the only thing that keeps him stationary). He reached for my mom for the first time today and was enjoying "talking" to my dad. We are all getting pretty eager to hear what his names for each of us will be. His babbling most resembles "Alida" to date. 

In other news, we've been testing popcorn at about every available opportunity, and still have a lot of cups to go - mostly that activity tends to accompany our family show watching sessions, that often start a bit too late at night (since we need to test popcorn and some of us need to check out and enter another world for a bit, it pairs nicely together). We recently finished Dickinson (some creative geniuses crafted that show!) and then Apple TV told us we might like Prehistoric Planet. How did they know? We are one episode in and all captivated by it. In some moments, though, I feel like I live for Wednesdays when the next episode of Ted Lasso comes out.  

I was thrilled that Jason, Kali and I were all successful giving blood together again recently. It was the first time Kali had donated since before her trip to the Philippines. It was fun to go together and we are toying with the idea of trying a blood drive again this fall around Nora's 16th birthday. Stay tuned!

The soccer season is winding down, with just a few weeks remaining. This is NOT good news for the soccer players in our family! I even admit that it is flying by and I am not at all tired of going to games, though I can do without the rain. It made for a more memorable game last weekend! Thankfully no thunder or lightening in the vicinity, so play continued.

Back on the home front, the chicks just keep coming and the hens keep going broody. We have expanded broody nests into the free range duck cook that is not being used for anything else this spring. What does that mean? Even more chicks on the way. I really do not get tired of watching mama hens and their chicks making their rounds. I can't quite imagine keeping up with several dozen children. :) 

We are into the time of year that if I have time to harvest and prepare them, we can have multiple kinds of greens in our meal. Our asparagus patches are not what you would call abundant by any stretch, but we get a handful here and there. The collards are doing great and a new thing for 2023: cooking pea tendrils. They are delicious sautéed, tasting almost exactly like snow peas.  

Jason spent most of a week of mornings accomplishing the first hay cutting. It took us a few days after he finished it to find a window to pick it up and mulch with it (so the grass was already starting to grow back through the cut hay - sometimes I wish for a pause button!!). The garlic, along with some of the perennial rows with blackberries and black raspberries, are all mulched! It was (mostly) a fun family project, especially when it was time to make hay ropes for mulching along the edges. I do so love when all 5 of us get in a groove on a project together!

Our snack break included the peppermint patties Alida made recently. I almost didn't get this photo taken - as you can see, a hen was sneaking up to snatch it from me!

After we were done eating, Terah chose to take the dishes back up to the house and wash them rather than mulching. As she gathered her things and headed to the house, she said, "I look like Mommy."

We ended up spending most of Sunday working on the farm together (mulching), since Monday we were taking off! Jason and I marked 2 doz years of marriage and we got to spend the whole day hiking with Kali! We had given her a coupon for a hike with us on her 19th birthday, and finally fulfilled the coupon 9 months later. The weather was perfect and we enjoyed breakfast and lunch along the way. Fresh air, good conversations, spending time with two of my favorite people... It was a good day topped off by coming home to Mom making a delicious anniversary dinner for us!

A few other tidbits before I call it a day!

So I mentioned our trip to the dentist recently. While none of us had issues, Terah was referred to the orthodontist because some of her adult teeth are having a hard time finding room to come in. The two of us went yesterday and I continue to marvel at what a wonderful practice it is (same place Kali went for her braces). They gave Terah a complete tour, explained everything very clearly before or as it was happening, and had things to entertain her while we waited. And she got to meet the office dog and liked him almost immediately. It looks like she will have 4 baby teeth pulled before they come out on their own, to try to give the emerging teeth a chance to come in where they are intended to be. 

Something in her week that brought her a lot more joy than that news was STRAWBERRIES! After not a great year last year, Woods Edge has delicious pick-your-own berries this year. Mom went with the girls and in an hour or so they picked about 60 lbs! I made 13x the recipe of freezer jam and it won't be any too much. Our girls like jam with a little bread! Alida really wants to go again...

Good night! In closing, here's a few "just because they are beautiful" photos: