This homeschooling thing has been doing some weird things to our schedule. For example: for all the rhetoric you hear about the demise of the family dinner table, and I am inclined to agree, we have found that we each like to have our own space for dinner. Truth be told, I am not a big dinner eater. I don’t sleep well with a blob of food in my stomach. Lately dinners have been largely vegetable based: stirfry or soup or a simple salad. I will usually add some buffalo — be it a steak or meatballs for Mark, but I am content with my vegetable plate. Last night I ate a giant plate of steamed carrots from the garden. And I mean a GIANT plate. That was all I had. And they were gooood!

So instead of the family dinner, we have more or less begun to congregate as a family at breakfast time.

Lucky for us, our lifestyle allows for a large breakfast. We loll about the breakfast table as a family, talking about our plans for the day: organizing who is going what, where and when. Bean always has some story to tell, and Lula makes it a point to dance in ballerina twirls from the breakfast bar to the table and back again.

I started to feel guilty tonight as I sit in front of the computer with a salad, Mark is hanging out in the kitchen with a giant bowl of meatballs and rice and the twins are watching a DVD of Grease. But then I realized, we have been on top of each other all day. It’s kind of nice to have this little bit of alone time.

I have a batch of Cranberry-Pumpkin rolls in the bread machine this evening. I’ll leave the dough to rise in the fridge overnight so I can pop them into the oven in the morning. Omelets made with fresh eggs with ham and a green pepper from the farmer’s market.

As Mark leaves the house early, and it is still dark, we will have breakfast by candlelight and ease ourselves into our day. To me, that is a family meal.

There is nothing the twins haven’t had a chance to tell me about today. And if they remember something I absolutely need to know, we’ll all be around the breakfast table tomorrow.

**Image of a painting by Carl Larsson, the quintessential Swedish Artist painting the quintessential Swedish kitchen. I am not sure what this particular work is called. I had to put away my Carl Larsson prints after my dad died. But I took them out again. I’m glad I did. I missed them.

I spent a week and a half with my brother and his two boys. All three of them are going through the worst kind of heartache imaginable. I pray, I really pray that those two little boys can find peace. Right now they are troubled and hurting. It is painful to watch.

And as for my brother, I pray that he muddles through, and realizes that he did nothing wrong. He was taken for a ride for 15 years, but now he has a chance to come out ahead — to be stronger — and to find happiness on his own terms which is as it should be. Sometimes it can be tough when leopards show their true spots.

Hang tough. There are so many people who love you and who will be there for you. We know the truth. We see what has happened. And we are behind you 100%. Remember that God is with you too. He didn’t write the 7th commandment for nothing.

Okay — let’s move on to happy blogging!

I got to do tons of fun stuff — one of which included a visit to Whole Foods! I HEART this place! Aisles and aisles of fresh, organic produce. Even the smell as you walk in is fresh and pure. And the deli! The brick-fired pizza! The bakery! Let’s just say I had to up my mileage with my running this week to counteract all the fun stuff they have at Whole Foods.

Then there was this terrific knitting store in the Old Town area of Fort Collins. The store is located in the carriage house behind the main house. This lovely brick two-story carriage house full of yarn and yarn books and people hanging out and knitting. If you ever visit Ft. Collins, CO, you MUST go there.

But then! Look at this! Backyard chickens along the pathway to the knitting shop. In the most darling little coop and run you ever saw. They had a couple of Polish and an Aracuna (or Easter Egg Chicken) I think. This, my friends, is a perfect system for keeping a few chickens for home use in your backyard. As I live on 10 acres, I just let mine free range and they go in their little chicken house (not anywhere cute as this one) at night on their own. But if you are in the city, what’s to stop someone from doing something like this?  Some cities (Rapid City included) won’t let you keep backyard chickens. But it’s well worth checking into your town/city ordinances to see what is available to you. Then visit mypetchicken.com and get a few. You won’t regret it.

He always sings! His raggety music to the cattle as he swings!

We went back to our alma mater this weekend for homecoming. Even though the Wyoming Cowboys LOST very disgracefully, we had a great time. I’ve got lots to blog about: especially the fun time I had in Centennial, Wyoming last night — but let’s start here at the game.

We had a great time at the parade in the morning, and after a few failed tries of Mark trying to get the twin’s phone to take a picture with Pistol Pete, we finally cornered him at the tailgate party and got the pic:

Then we headed to the game. The Pokes took the field to the roar of the cannon — that is always a thrill. It was really nice for the first half, but then the famous Wyoming wind kicked up. We didn’t have what it takes to stick it out so we headed downtown for lunch. More later, but for now, enjoy little Bean cheerleading with the Wyoming Cheerleaders!

Powder River Let ‘Er Buck!

Two years ago I got caught up in the “keep up with the Joneses” scenario. My friend got a really nice new high efficiency washer. Then my other friend did. I was still clunking along with a washing machine that Mark and I got when we were first married. It worked fine. But it wasn’t cool. I wanted a new cool washer too. But of course mine worked fine, and Mark has an ongoing mantra. Two mantras in fact. 1. If it ain’t broke there is no reason to get a new one, even if the new one is prettier and better. 2. New computerized stuff breaks and it is not easy to fix when it does.

So I was putzing along with my old washer. Until, one day the washer finally broke. Now you would think I would NOT be happy that my washer broke. But I was! Now was my chance to join the elite crowd and get  a new washer! And I did! I got the coolest washer EVER — a Sears/Kenmore Oasis HE washer. And even though our old dryer worked just fine I just had to have the matching dryer. And oooohhhhh it’s all computerized, all I have to do is push a button and it figures everything out for me! Yippeeee! In blue even! Specialty colors that cost extra. I am very, very embarrassed to say how much I spend on those two items. Suffice it to say that it was ridiculous and I literally get sick to my stomach when I think of it today.

So here I sat with my new washer and dryer that was supposed to be so much better! (they weren’t). And they were that designer blue color that nobody EVER SAW because my laundry room is upstairs in my bedroom behind closed doors.

Boy was I an idiot.

So guess what happened today? About a month after the warranty ran out? The new Sears Kenmore Oasis Elite washer, let me say that again so Google can find this: Sears Kenmore Oasis Elite washer –  BROKE! It broke with a full load of laundry sitting inside. And guess what? The lid locks so I can’t open it. My laundry is stuck inside. I can’t get it out. The Sears Kenmore Oasis Elite washer will not power on. It is dead. The lid is locked. I call Sears service. They can’t come for TWO WEEKS. Two weeks for my laundry to sit inside my Sears Kenmore Oasis Elite and ROT. Mark, who can fix anything, can’t fix this because it is all computerized and needs special computerized parts. Parts I can’t get for TWO WEEKS until the guy comes out to see what was wrong. And he will charge me $65 plus mileage for the service call just to give me an estimate on what is wrong. NO WAY.

So I look it up online. Turns out lots of people are having problems with the Kenmore Oasis Elite and it is a controller problem that they are aware of but will not go ahead and issue a recall. Pretty much it is too bad so sad, you were a sucker for buying the Kenmore Oasis Elite in the first place. See, here is a link to just ONE of the conversations I found regarding the Kenmore Oasis Elite. On a website titled appropriately: appliancejunk.com

So yeah. Now, I have a nice $1000.00 washer (that’s just the washer) with a known issue that Sears will not fix without charging me an arm and a leg. All while my clothes are rotting under the locked lid.

So here is what I did. I pried open the lid with a screw driver, breaking the latch. Got my soaking clothes out and rung them out in the tub. Then I called Sam’s Club and told them my sob story. They have a cheapo basic washer for $299.99.  That will cost me LESS than having Sears come out and look at this one to try and fix it. And I can get my clothes washed today. And if this one breaks, as long as I save my receipt, Sams will take it back and replace it. Even if it breaks 5 years from now they will replace it. So there ya go.

Oh, and now I have to explain to my kids why mommy was throwing things at a washer this morning while using a few choice words they are never allowed to say. I think Sears owes me for that too.

I shudder to think at the amount of money I have spent at Sears in the last 3 years: riding lawn tractor: $3000, Washer and Dryer: $2000, Refrigerator (that broke too) $1000. Yeah. So done with that.

Back to happy place blogging tomorrow.

Here is a video of that terrific gig I wrote about below.

I grew up in Massachusetts on the edge of a MacIntosh apple orchard. I used to ride my pony to the orchard and gorge on those apples — me and her both! That was one fat, spoiled pony. I do miss some things about New England, and the Macs are one. I miss those. You can’t get them fresh out here.

I did plant four MacIntosh apple trees in 2001 when we built this house. One died, but three grew into terrific trees except for one thing. No apples! Every spring I watch the pretty pink blooms with hope, and every fall I am disappointed.

This summer Lula ran into the house — Mom there is an apple on your tree!

What?? No way! I ran outside and sure enough. One little apple. Just one. I watched that apple all summer. Finally I picked it, and I ate it. Just me. And it was gooood!

So as not to deprive the family, I went to the Farmer’s Market this weekend and looked for apples. There was a stand set up from Missouri with the biggest, reddest apples you ever saw. I am always suspicious of fruit that looks “too perfect” and sure enough, when I asked if they had been sprayed, the man hemmed and hawed and finally admitted that “of course they had been sprayed” I thanked him and went on my way.

Then I came to a little stand that had a box of apples, all mismatched sizes, none of them looked perfect, but they looked real. I asked where the apples came from — Sturgis, he replied — right up the street. What kind are they? I really can’t remember what he said other than “they are cooking apples” — Have they been sprayed? I asked — he looked offended “of course not!” I’ll take the box then. And I did.

I bit into one on the way out of the parking lot. Cooking apples my foot! They were delicious. The box was four apples lighter when I got home.

Lula has learned to peel. She loves to get the peel off in one whole strip. And I have a five gallon ice cream bucket full of dried apples, and we have all feasted on layered apple crisp.

Fall is good.

*photos courtesy Bean who wants a new camera for her birthday. A pink one.

** I’ve since planted 3 Honeycrisp apple trees. We’ll see how they do.

I dare you to do some googling about High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Go ahead. I’ll wait.

See??? Scary stuff! I don’t like feeding that to my kids. The twins both love French Toast and waffles, however, I refuse to feed them syrup that is made entirely from HFCS. The alternative, of course, is pure maple syrup, but at $10 for a teensy little bottle, that adds up pretty quickly. The solution? Make our own fruit syrup. They love this!

1 cup berries

1/2 cup water

1/2 tablespoon honey

Boil ingredients until fruit is limp and the syrup smells good. Put it all in a food processor and puree. Serve warm over pancakes, french toast — whatever your heart desires! Mmmmmmmm. And a bonus — it makes the house smell good!

PS — More illustrations coming as I am getting one of these, courtesy of Dell Computers because they feel sooooo bad my new computer broke and it took them a MONTH to get me a new one! Yay me!

The twins are studying Lewis & Clark in Social Studies. We decided, since it was a gorgeous day, to take a hike on our favorite riding trail and use a journal to track our journey and make a map of where we went. We collected specimens (leaves and bark) and planned our route so we would have enough supplies (sandwiches & apples) to make it home without running out

It was a perfect, perfect day! The weather was typical fall in the Black Hills. Not too hot. The sunlight dappled through the aspen trees and we had not one, but two creek crossings to navigate. (note to self– it is much easier to navigate streams on horseback — bring the horses next time!)

We had Lena the shepherd and Maddie the sheltie with us. Maddie only has three legs, so crossing streams for her was quite an ordeal.

We found some aspen bark in slash piles and our intent is to soak the bark and then flatten it to make covers for our journals.

The highlight of the day was when we found a Wooly Bear Caterpillar. Bean now has a new pet. We’ve done lots of research to see how to take care of him through the winter so he will spin his cocoon and turn into a Tiger Moth come spring.

Imagine my delight when I was woken up this morning by Bean bounding into my room to inform me — “Mom! Caterpillars poop!”

Can’t tell me my kids aren’t learning anything!