*if you're a tad bit squeamish or a super softy, this post might not be for you...see ya next time.
By this point in our lives, we have likely had to come to terms with death - animal or human - and we certainly know what it means to live.
I understand that if I one day have my dream of a little farm to call my own, I'll be experiencing life and death more frequently and on a greater scale, even if my only farm animals are chickens. This morning a mouse tested my grit for such situations. Turns out I don't have much grit.
Snap. The sound that makes you cringe when you have mouse traps set in your house. Around 1 a.m., I decided to leave the trap. I'd much rather pick up and dispose of a stiff mouse than a fresh kill.
Hours later, the coffee was brewing, the alarm was ringing and the mouse trap was in need of checking. Ugh. There it was - tail sticking out from under the stove...as was most of the trap. Confused, I took a breath, grabbed a plastic grocery bag and gently pulled the trap out from under the stove.
Noooooo no no no no no. The intruder wasn't dead! The trap had only caught his leg. Instantly I felt sad for the little guy...felt terrible that he may have suffered all night long trying to get out of that trap.
What do I do? I can't drop a suffering, squirming mouse in the trash! Chop his head off? That's what you would do with a chicken, right? Run him over with the car? Take him out back and whack him with a shovel? I sat on the kitchen floor and stared at him. My dog Marty kept running back and forth between the bedroom and the kitchen to check in. I couldn't do those things...not today. So I put him in a bag. And then another and another and another. And then...then I put him in the freezer. And there is where my once-enemy, now object of my sympathy will spend his day until I get home from work and can take him out to the trash, no longer squirming.
So please, don't mind the mouse in the freezer. He won't be staying for dinner.
Friday, May 30, 2014
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
onward and upward
The first lesson in chasing your dreams is to never give up. Sometimes circumstances change, and with that, the path and your means of traveling it from point A to point B may also need to change. Onward and upward, friends!
Remaining in a city with dreams of farming proves challenging. Once you've filled your garden plot for the season, there's only so much weeding and watering that can be done until the plants start growing and you have to thin them, train them up trellises or can start harvesting your small crop. It's discouraging to wake up with the desire to be productive and get a little dirt under your nails when it appears there's little to no work to be done. That's when I look up. You can lay back and gaze up at the cloud-puffed sky, but I'm looking up to the roof.
When the ground is full and you have 20 more tomatoes and some herbs that need a home, and more seeds still sprouting in trays, it's time to think outside the box. Well, in the box, but outside the fence lines. I am fortunate enough to not only have a nice sized garden plot but also have access to a small portion of my building's roof that gets just the right mix of sun and shade. With the desire to dig in the ground is still very much present, it was time for another trip to the store. Soil, manure, perlite, peat moss and marigolds were on the list.
A couple beers and an afternoon later, a container roof garden was ready to grow.
Remaining in a city with dreams of farming proves challenging. Once you've filled your garden plot for the season, there's only so much weeding and watering that can be done until the plants start growing and you have to thin them, train them up trellises or can start harvesting your small crop. It's discouraging to wake up with the desire to be productive and get a little dirt under your nails when it appears there's little to no work to be done. That's when I look up. You can lay back and gaze up at the cloud-puffed sky, but I'm looking up to the roof.
When the ground is full and you have 20 more tomatoes and some herbs that need a home, and more seeds still sprouting in trays, it's time to think outside the box. Well, in the box, but outside the fence lines. I am fortunate enough to not only have a nice sized garden plot but also have access to a small portion of my building's roof that gets just the right mix of sun and shade. With the desire to dig in the ground is still very much present, it was time for another trip to the store. Soil, manure, perlite, peat moss and marigolds were on the list.
A couple beers and an afternoon later, a container roof garden was ready to grow.
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| Tomatoes, marigolds, herbs and other flowers potted for the roof garden. Bamboo stalks were added in the pots to help keep those rowdy tomatoes in line. |
Friday, May 16, 2014
ever changing
Dear Friends:
With the nearly three weeks of radio silence here on part of the whole comes some news. In the last two posts, you may have noticed my hinting to some anticipated changes. The changes were big...incredible...exciting! But sadly, are now off the table.
In the works were plans to move out of the city and relocate to a farm in Delaware County. Home would have been a historic cottage built in the 1700s, surrounded by creeks and open land - part of large horse farm where I already spend much of my weekends. The long commute would have been a hit, being 25 miles from work, but I imagine it certainly would have been worth it.
Ideas were sprouting for a large garden - enough to produce extra for a neighborhood farm stand. I was excited to start growing gourds and pumpkins, which could have also been sold at the farm stand. I've been collecting and reading all kinds of books about homesteading and small scale farming, saving images and building plans for potting benches and mobile chicken coops, looking at fire pit designs and lawn furniture. Maybe you know that I want to be a farmer someday, so this was the perfect opportunity to test the waters. It was a chance to get a feel for the work involved, the quality of what I could grow, the value it added to everyday life.
So, I'm disappointed to say that this plan is no longer working out. Much of what has been planted in my current garden was done so in in-ground containers for easy removal and transplanting. It's hard to put down roots when you don't know where you will grow, right? Lesson from the plants.
I was also excited to get back into regular blogging, using what would have been my new living situation and lifestyle as daily inspiration. What's it like to live by heat from firewood in a 1700s stone cottage in the dead of the Pennsylvania winter? What sort of recipes would I have been able to pull together using all the produce from my big, new garden? How successful is raising chickens when there is a fox den on the other side of the yard and two resident guard dogs (don't tell the little one he's only 17 pounds!)? Oh yeah...and how about waking up to gun shots all throughout deer hunting season? Maybe someday I'll know, but for now, it all remains unexplored territory. An unwritten chapter, if you will.
For now, I'll keep on digging in my current ground, always dreaming about tomorrow.
With the nearly three weeks of radio silence here on part of the whole comes some news. In the last two posts, you may have noticed my hinting to some anticipated changes. The changes were big...incredible...exciting! But sadly, are now off the table.
In the works were plans to move out of the city and relocate to a farm in Delaware County. Home would have been a historic cottage built in the 1700s, surrounded by creeks and open land - part of large horse farm where I already spend much of my weekends. The long commute would have been a hit, being 25 miles from work, but I imagine it certainly would have been worth it.
Ideas were sprouting for a large garden - enough to produce extra for a neighborhood farm stand. I was excited to start growing gourds and pumpkins, which could have also been sold at the farm stand. I've been collecting and reading all kinds of books about homesteading and small scale farming, saving images and building plans for potting benches and mobile chicken coops, looking at fire pit designs and lawn furniture. Maybe you know that I want to be a farmer someday, so this was the perfect opportunity to test the waters. It was a chance to get a feel for the work involved, the quality of what I could grow, the value it added to everyday life.
So, I'm disappointed to say that this plan is no longer working out. Much of what has been planted in my current garden was done so in in-ground containers for easy removal and transplanting. It's hard to put down roots when you don't know where you will grow, right? Lesson from the plants.
I was also excited to get back into regular blogging, using what would have been my new living situation and lifestyle as daily inspiration. What's it like to live by heat from firewood in a 1700s stone cottage in the dead of the Pennsylvania winter? What sort of recipes would I have been able to pull together using all the produce from my big, new garden? How successful is raising chickens when there is a fox den on the other side of the yard and two resident guard dogs (don't tell the little one he's only 17 pounds!)? Oh yeah...and how about waking up to gun shots all throughout deer hunting season? Maybe someday I'll know, but for now, it all remains unexplored territory. An unwritten chapter, if you will.
For now, I'll keep on digging in my current ground, always dreaming about tomorrow.
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| The Mill House image from thomaswillcox.blogspot.com |
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Grazin'
Back in late November I heard about a program called Graze - it's a mail-order subscription service for boxed snacks. Every one, two or four weeks, a little box gets delivered to your home (or in my case, I chose my office) with four individually packaged snacks inside. Each box costs $6. When I first heard about Graze, I used a subscription code that allowed me to get two snack boxes for free. No reason not to try it!
These types of subscription services seem pretty popular lately. I've seen other companies offering snack boxes, some for pet toys and treats, and even for beauty products. It's a pretty great idea for snacks. One less item to pick up at the grocery store, and who couldn't use a little variety? It is the spice of life, after all.
Graze offers sweet snacks, savory snacks, gluten-free options, low calorie options, high protein options and more. When you log in to your Graze account, you are able to view all of the snack offerings. Before you place your first order, or after you've tried some of the snacks, you can rate them: Try, Like, Love or Trash. Rating the snacks ensures your boxes will be filled only with what you'll enjoy.
Some of my favorites have been Scandanavian Forest (dried blueberries, lingonberries, cherry infused raisins and dried apple slices), Texan Corn Salsa (corn chips, salsa almonds, roasted corn and jumbo chili corn) and Apple Cinnamon Flapjacks (rolled oats with apple and cinnamon - like a chewy granola bar). I have lots of other favorites, but you should try them for yourself and find out what yours are!
Boxes are packed using Graze's "80/20" rule: 80% healthy, 20% treat. That keeps your snacking mostly guilt-free. Graze snacks are also free of artificial sweeteners, colors and flavors. Aside from keeping health in mind, Graze also is looking out for the environment. Almost the entire package is recyclable, including the cardboard delivery box and the individual plastic snack containers (they're each sealed with a small plastic sheet, which I throw in the trash).
Since I've been receiving Graze boxes, I've developed a taste for more varied trail or snack mixes than I used to eat, as well as more kinds of dried fruits. Because of this, I've kept my eye open when going to the store thinking maybe I'd spot one I'd like to buy in bulk and try. Whether it's the neighborhood grocery store, Trader Joe's or even my local co-op, I haven't found anything quite like what Graze puts together. And I don't know what kind of magic Graze puts in its dried fruit, but it's amazing. The apple and pineapple are my favorite - they're soft and full of flavor, unlike the hard dried fruit you might buy at the store. You know what you're getting is fresh, because if you look at the little insert that comes in each box, you'll see expiration dates for each of your snacks.
So...are you interested yet? If you'd like to try a Graze box, you can use my Friend Code, which may give you a free box or discounts: LVXH532GP (As of the posting of this entry, new subscribers get their first and 5th boxes free - you can cancel at any time, and there is no membership fee or cancellation fee. Graze makes it easy!).
Psst! This has not been a sponsored post. I purchase Graze boxes because I love them. I wrote about them because I thought you might love them, too!
These types of subscription services seem pretty popular lately. I've seen other companies offering snack boxes, some for pet toys and treats, and even for beauty products. It's a pretty great idea for snacks. One less item to pick up at the grocery store, and who couldn't use a little variety? It is the spice of life, after all.
Graze offers sweet snacks, savory snacks, gluten-free options, low calorie options, high protein options and more. When you log in to your Graze account, you are able to view all of the snack offerings. Before you place your first order, or after you've tried some of the snacks, you can rate them: Try, Like, Love or Trash. Rating the snacks ensures your boxes will be filled only with what you'll enjoy.
Some of my favorites have been Scandanavian Forest (dried blueberries, lingonberries, cherry infused raisins and dried apple slices), Texan Corn Salsa (corn chips, salsa almonds, roasted corn and jumbo chili corn) and Apple Cinnamon Flapjacks (rolled oats with apple and cinnamon - like a chewy granola bar). I have lots of other favorites, but you should try them for yourself and find out what yours are!
Boxes are packed using Graze's "80/20" rule: 80% healthy, 20% treat. That keeps your snacking mostly guilt-free. Graze snacks are also free of artificial sweeteners, colors and flavors. Aside from keeping health in mind, Graze also is looking out for the environment. Almost the entire package is recyclable, including the cardboard delivery box and the individual plastic snack containers (they're each sealed with a small plastic sheet, which I throw in the trash).
Since I've been receiving Graze boxes, I've developed a taste for more varied trail or snack mixes than I used to eat, as well as more kinds of dried fruits. Because of this, I've kept my eye open when going to the store thinking maybe I'd spot one I'd like to buy in bulk and try. Whether it's the neighborhood grocery store, Trader Joe's or even my local co-op, I haven't found anything quite like what Graze puts together. And I don't know what kind of magic Graze puts in its dried fruit, but it's amazing. The apple and pineapple are my favorite - they're soft and full of flavor, unlike the hard dried fruit you might buy at the store. You know what you're getting is fresh, because if you look at the little insert that comes in each box, you'll see expiration dates for each of your snacks.
So...are you interested yet? If you'd like to try a Graze box, you can use my Friend Code, which may give you a free box or discounts: LVXH532GP (As of the posting of this entry, new subscribers get their first and 5th boxes free - you can cancel at any time, and there is no membership fee or cancellation fee. Graze makes it easy!).
 |
| A sample Graze box (www.graze.com press pack photo) |
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