Back at the homestead….

Now we’re back at the homestead
Where the air makes you choke
And people don’t know you
And trust is a joke

I can’t say we have this problem. We live within a small community and the people are very friendly…

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Part of our back yard. We live on four acres of land.

“Mom, My daughter said, You know it’s technically impossible to do nothing.” “Because even when you think you’re doing ‘nothing’ you are, right?”

I smiled and said, “Good point!”

And while I won’t be doing ‘nothing’ this weekend, things will be moving at a much slower pace. Later today, I’m planning to make a big pot of stew. Outside my much loved lentils, I have no idea what else will make it’s way into the pot and just like the much loved story stone soup, we’ll see what enters the pot.

During my slow paced weekend, I plan on sewing and embroidering and if I really get the itch, I’ll set up my loom. After all, it’s been calling my name for weeks, just begging me to start weaving something beautiful. Before long, I’ll answer and become completely captivated by the simple act of weaving my own cloth.

I asked my daughter her plans…

She scrunched up her face and said… “Oh, I don’t know…”  “Besides hanging with you, writing, and drawing, I’ll see what I feel like doing.” Her school days have been busy, so it’s seems as though she’s welcoming some downtime also.

Toad The Wet Sprocket – Walk On The Ocean Lyrics

We spotted the ocean at the head of the trail
Where are we going, so far away
And somebody told me that this is the place
Where everything’s better, everything’s safe
Walk on the ocean
Step on the stones
Flesh becomes water
Wood becomes bone

And half an hour later we packed up our things
We said we’d send letters and all those little things
And they knew we were lying but they smiled just the same
It seemed they’d already forgotten we’d came

Now we’re back at the homestead
Where the air makes you choke
And people don’t know you
And trust is a joke

We don’t even have pictures
Just memories to hold
That grow sweeter each season
As we slowly grow old

Fermentation adventures: Water Kefir grains – look how they’ve grown

Unlike the first grains, I took before and after pictures of my water kefir grains rapid growth.

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Rehomed water kefir grains – one quart Mason jar

The above picture, is a recycled photo… I’ve shown it before but this is how my water kefir grains appeared when I first received them; one cup of healthy water kefir grains, just waiting to do their thing. I kept them in a one quart mason jar.

 

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They started growing and I placed them in a one gallon glass jar. The above picture was taken two days ago…

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Multiplying water kefir grains in one gallon jar

 

The above picture was taken yesterday, just one day later. One days growth! Amazing, right? I was so excited with these rapidly multiplying water kefir grains that I swapped out my advanced post and I decided to publish this post instead.

Fermentation adventure: Water kefir; Rapidly multiplying water kefir grains

Last week, I received another order of water kefir grains. One cup if you want to be specific…

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Water Kefir Grains in one gallon jar

They are multiplying much faster than the initial ones that I received. These grains were purchased from another supplier, naturally I’m pleased.

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Water Kefir Soda

 

As you can see, I now have a nice supply of natural soda. The above picture is water kefir apple soda and the darker bottles are Hibiscus natural soda. I can’t wait to sample the soda. We already like the Hibiscus water kefir soda, but the apple soda will be a new blend.

Outdoor adventures: Strolling in the woods…

Yesterday, my daughter had a play date at our home with her best friend/schoolmate. They were both excited to hang out with each other for the day. I took off of work early and my daughter and me picked up her best friend.

Shortly after arriving home we took an \early morning/afternoon stroll in the woods.

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We live on around four acres of land, the majority of it is wooded. There was lots to see and the time flew by.

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More importantly the girls had a good time.

 

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Lots of things to explore in the great outdoors

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… and plenty of giggling filled the crisp autumn air.

They were off yesterday and today. Parent/teachers conference is occurring at our Lutheran school.

Writing adventures: My daughter has her own website

My daughter loves to write and draw. In fact, she normally does both daily after her homework and chores are finished. I would say that those two activities (for her) give her the same satisfaction that sewing, knitting and weaving do for me. Truth be told, I could spend hours doing those things… but I don’t because I love spending time with her.

My daughter isn’t new to websites. She had one when she was seven years old. I guess it’s natural that she wanted one. She’s known about website since she can remember. After all, I had them. I’ve had my own sites since 1995… When school started, she wasn’t writing there anymore. School kept her busy. Now that she’s older, she’s doing a much better job at managing her time and so she’s expressed an interest in having her website again.

When she was much younger, I encouraged her to express herself as soon as she was talking clearly. I guess you could say she received an early start with creative writing when she was four years old. I’d pick two topics and we’d have to come up with a story about them. Say, I chose “dog” and “rose” … we had to make story incorporating those two subjects in our story. It could server a major or minor role. Initially, she (mainly )listened as I wove a story based on the two topics that she chose. I’d pause throughout the story and encourage her to participate. As her confidence grew, she was able to take the two subjects that I’d selected and weave her own story without my help. At times, she still wanted me to contribute.

But back to her website, since it’s obvious that she’s serious about having one. I created one yesterday. I set aside some time , registered her domain name and am hosting her site under one of my hosting providers.

It’s her personal space, where she has control of what is published. I think it’s nice for children to have their little space where they are in control. It gives them an outlet where they can fully express themselves without worrying if they are doing something “correctly”.

I’m looking forward to seeing what she has to say and what artwork she chooses to share. If you use Facebook, check it out. I’ll be sending the link (to a few people) within the next few days.

Fermenting Adventures: Kombucha 101 (Video)

Not too long ago I stumbled upon this Kombucha video. If you’ve read this site recently, you already know that I’m on a natural soda kick and you already know that I’ve shared a few Kombucha videos.

But I haven’t shared one quite like this…

This video is the longest kombucha videofeatured on this site, clocking in at 38:18 minutes. Don’t let the time frame scare you, it’s full of interesting tidbits about the entire kombucha making process. So… if you are curious about kombucha, get comfortable and listen to this video on the kombucha making process. Enjoy!

 

 

Halloween: A few days late…

The only thing my daughter wanted to do for Halloween was to stay at home and watch movies… We did and had a lot of fun.

 

Halloween freak show

Last year, I stumbled upon this picture and meant to post it for Halloween 2014,  but it slipped my mind. If I’d have been thinking, I would have set it up as an advanced post, just like I do for many of the posts here on Celebrate Life but… that didn’t happen.

I’ve always liked skulls, skeletons and pumpkin heads. Creepy for some, but oh so fascinating for me and boy does my mind start spinning when I see them.

Many of the stories I’ve written are a bit off the rails with their creepiness, so it’s safe to say that so this picture is perfect for me. I also think, this picture has a story that is begging to be told, don’t you? Last year, when I stumbled upon this picture, I let the picture do the talking… and before I knew it I had a story. I shared that  creepy little tale with my daughter.

Creepiness is nothing knew to me, as I mentioned before on this site, I started reading adult books when I was about six. I read Stephen King’s, The Shining (what I considered my first true adult books) when I was seven. The book, led me on a twisted path for books that were just as bizarre, twisted and macabre. I loved King’s writings, because many of the stories had shreds of reality woven throughout his demented tales.

For those who celebrated this day, Happy Belated Halloween!