Sunshine!

I think most of the reason people don't enjoy folding laundry is because they haven't worked very hard to get it washed.  There's something satisfying in folding a pile of clothes that you just pulled from the line after hours of drying, after hours of washing.  I don't plan on doing my wash by hand on a regular basis by any means (I just didn't want to pay for gas to drive to La Porte, or a laundromat <there isn't one in Rolling anyway), but it won't bother me the next time I need to wait for the washer to get done to get going somewhere.


On a couple other notes, it's finally sunny!  I hear it isn't supposed to last long.  It was a dreary, dismal week.  We started running laps around the driveway to dispel some of the cabin fever.  First time in a year I've been able to run again (since breaking my foot awhile ago from rugball).  I appreciate my body a lot more now, for having to wait a year for it to work properly again.  They (whoever 'they' is) say that you spend five years of your life waiting (in line, at traffic lights, for your little brother to get out of the bathroom, for the wash to finish).  I think it's actually quite a bit longer than that if you count things like waiting for healing, personal growth, for people to grow up, for kids to move out of the house so you can get back to the rest of your life.  I don't know what that says about life, but I think it makes people either better for it, or just plain bitter.

What time is it?

Time to:

-Wake up Sean (generally occurs half an hour after I get up)

-Eat (happens throughout the day as necessary; largely based on taking breaks from 'work')

-Feed the chickens (afternoon-ish.  scraps are fed to them in the morning)

-Wash the dishes (before it's dark inside.  Have you ever tried washing dishes by candlelight?)

-Make music (most often happens after dark, or on Sunday afternoon)

-Read books (also after dark.  We've finished Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy aloud)

-Work outdoors (can include planting, putting in a fence, picking up sticks, working on the chicken coop, mulching the garden, installing tire swings, shepherding chickens)

-Work indoors (can include vegetable transplanting, vacuuming, dishes, dancing)

For your viewing pleasure, this is where most evenings are spent (book reading, music making, hosting guests, etc.)

These are the chickens on their first day allowed outside the coop:

Rolling Prairie, IN

The odour of ammonia floats through the air as my next-door neighbor (by that, I mean across the road and up the street a little ways) sprays his field with who knows what, but I think something that smells like ammonia can't be good for something like dirt, let alone the things you're growing in it.  That's just my take on the matter.

Welcome to the farm (she doesn't have a name yet.  that's probably something we should activiely work on...soon.  however, a few other things have taken precidence such as starting vegetable transplants, mulching the garden, tilling the garden, finishing the chicken coop that the chickens are already living in, hosting guests...well, you get the picture).  I think I was expecting this to be more stress-free/care-free than it actually is, but I suppose the things you carry in your Being go with you and interact with the world regardless of what it is you're doing.  Add to the personal list of things to work on.  Along with that, I do want to be playing music more.  That's in the plans for summer.  Musical instrument count:  4 guitars, 1 ukulele, 1 didgeridoo, 1 djembe, 1 flute, 1 harmonica.  It's hard to play music after a long day of work, and only having candlelight, but I think it's a little of just trying to settle into a regular schedule.

Speaking of candlelight, that's what we use.  Do we have electricity?  Yes.  Do we use it?  As needed  (i.e. to run the refridgerator, the grow light, the water pump).  Why?  1.  We don't really need it.  The sun provides plenty of light in the day to get done what we need to get done in daylight.  2.  Sleeping with the natural cycles of the sun.  I realize this isn't extremely long  yet, but when you're working in the garden at 6.30 in the morning (we're on central time), you really don't feel the need to keep working hard after dinner time.  3.  It gets rid of the need to keep doing.  Somehow it has been distilled into American thinking (perhaps thinking in general) that if there is light, natural or not, we have to be working.  Working on 'doing' less and 'being' more. (this is something I didn't realize until we were using candles as our light source after dark)

Side note:  I'm learning a lot about what it means to be a homeowner.  Taking out storm windows and putting in screens just isn't very fun.  And the septic backing up?  (though there is a slightly entertaining story there, at least).  I'm also curious as to where the idea of landscaping and how ridiculous it is sometimes if you think about it.  I can understand wanting a place to look nice but, the amount of time and energy (and money!) people put into yards just seem a little ridiculous as I'm trying to clean out the winter brush so the flowerbeds (at the visible ones) look presentable.  Crazy if you ask me.