A Real Clothesline

I have to admit that I have been hesitant to post a picture of this. It doesn't quite meet my standards of perfection, but then, nothing ever does. So I am going to swallow my pride, post one anyway, then give you my excuses for the imperfections so that I will feel better.

And here it is. After much debate, we finally decided to put up the clotheline in the trailer's back yard. I originally though it might be good to put it close to the new house in a permanent location, but we decided that would be terribly inconvenient, and, besides, we could always move the posts after we moved into the new house. As a result, we did not cement the posts, so one of them is a little crooked. Also, we didn't want to spend the big bucks on the good, plastic-coated, stranded wire until we moved it, so the wire we put up looks a little weird, too. But that's okay (I tell myself over and over).

Now some of you might be wondering why, in this day and age, I would put up a clothesline. I don't know, really. We have a dryer, and after looking up the cost of drying a load of clothes in the dryer, I discovered it will take a while to recoop the cost of the materials in energy savings. Also, I'm not one of  those sorts that is trying to insulate us from a potential societal melt-down (though my husband likes to think along those lines). But I do like the feeling of self-sufficiency. There is something about using the energy of the sun instead of some coal stripped from a mine that was converted to electrity for my convenience while a pile of ash builds up as a potential toxic hazard to the environment. I like not having to pay money for that sort of energy. If only we could wean ouselves off the grid. (But then how would I blog?) And then there is the natural smell of line-dried clothes instead of the choking, perfumey smell of some of those fabric softener sheets.

I remember when I was younger, I was a little irritated by the stiff towels my mother dried on our clothesline. But the occasional stiff towel is a small price to pay for the strange pleasure of standing in the hot sun, feeling the cool, damp fabric blow into my skin and catching that fresh, clean scent in the air. And for a moment, I get to forget the rush of the world around me.

Snakes and Cabinets

It's felt like a very long week, though I can't say why exactly. Maybe it is because we had a big party last weekend and it takes me a while to recover from those. And then you know how women have a few bad days every month... But here we are on a Monday morning, operating off less than ideal sleep and energy levels, with laundry going, etc., etc. So it's time for me to let the kids spend extra time on the wii and write a little.

Saturday (was it?) Zivah spotted Dragon playing with something under a bush. It turned out to be a baby snake. Kind of pretty, but mean. We have it in a little critter cage for the moment, trying to decide what to do with it. It will probably be another park-released critter. Henry Horton visitors, we are sorry if there are an abnormal number of possums and non-poisonous snakes lurking around the hiking trails. It's our fault.

Here is a picture of Finley holding the snake. She has a big piece of food stuck to her cheek. It seems like she always has food on her cheeks. Drives me nuts. But what can you do besides remind her constantly to wipe her mouth or wipe it yourself? I dunno. Sigh. It's kind of funny to me. The one kids that really puts thought into her outfits and seems to care how she looks can't remember to wipe her mouth. Hopefully by the time she's 20, she won't be walking around in some fancy dress and shoes, hair done and make up... with food stains around the mouth after a dinner date. God love her.

Anyway, big news! Remember those awful cabinets we bought on a whim? SOLD! (So thankful there are other suckers out there just like us. [Or, in order not to feel guilty, "one man's trash is another man's treasure."]) And, thanks to some new friends of ours, we have new, used cabinets that happen to be in great condition and will work perfectly in our kitchen, AND they were ridiculously cheap. So here is a shot of the sink/range area. An island will go in the open space.

 And here is the fridge/pantry/desk area. We kept a couple of the awful cabinets with plans to alter tham a bit to make them work with the good cabinets. Admittedly, I 'm not a big fan of the door arches, but I can live with arches. And maybe someday when I'm old and bored, I can rework or replace them. We would like to refinsh the cabinets, and I am toying with the idea of a lighter, colored stain for the uppers and darker stain for the lowers. We shall see...

 We also were given some other cabinets that we will get to incorparate in the utility/laundry room and other random spaces throughout the house as we see fit. It's all rather exciting. I love good, sensible storage.

Joe, Finley, and I walked inside this morning after feeding the cats.
Zivah was at the table eating breakfast.

Zivah (mournful voice)- I was all alone!

Joe- Z, the Lord is always with you, even when your alone.

Birthday Bash

Sunday, we had a birthday party for Finley's 8th and Zivah's 4th Birthday. I made each of them the cake of their choice: chocolate for Z and strawberry for Finley. Zivah let me decorate her cake, and Finley decorated her own.

 The kids ran around the farm on a scavenger hunt and played a few games, then were happy to rest and open presents and eat cake and ice cream. A good time was had by all (I think).

Remelted Crayons, Etc.

It's been a while since I posted anything. Chris took the week off work, so we were busy, although I can't say that we got a whole lot accomplished. We were planning on working on the chicken plucker, but when I tried to pull the first finger through a hole in the barrel, the barrel started to crack. I guess two years out in the sun made the plastic brittle. We need to get a new barrel, I think.

The 4th was spent mostly indoors due to the heat, but we did take the kids to see the local fireworks show at night. Not bad for a small town.

Thursday, we took the kids swimming at the pool. Out of the three, Zivah was the most fearless. As soon as she realized that the arm floaties would hold her head above water, she took off dog-paddling all along the edge of the pool. Finley and Joe paddled around the pool, too, holding tightly to their doughnut floaties, panicking whenever water splashed into their faces. I need to get them some swimming lessons.

Saturday, Finley made these flowers. I like how each flower is different.

It appears I have been suffering from allergies this season and have been hacking up snot, dripping from the nose randomly, and not sleeping very well. So while I should be outside weeding the garden, I am staying inside today to make good on at least one of the projects I have committed to.

So, today, we remelted some crayon stubs. Finley has wanted to make some more, since she really like the effect of a marbled crayon on her drawings. I have seen other people use muffin tins and silicon forms to make these, but since I don't have silicone and prefer to make things rather than clean, I opted to make the forms out of tinfoil. I sprayed them down with cooking spray so that the crayons would release easily from the foil. I melted them in our toaster oven set at 250 degrees. I forgot to put a sheet of foil down in the pan, so I did have some minor cleanup, but nothing horrendous.

 And here is the finished product.

An inch of rain...

I have never before been this thankful for an inch of rain.

Looking out this morning, there is a flush of pale green over the yellow, the grass in celebration.

A Picture of Daddy

Z has been drawing some pictures the last couple of days. She drew some pictures for my friend, Leilani, when she came for a visit, and she's drawn some for me and Chris. This one is of "Daddy" with "girl's hair (snicker, giggle)" and "a DRESS (laugh)!"