Why is it...

That people think it's ok for their kids to be rude, disrespectful, and mean to others??


I wasn't going to post this but my need to vent got the best of me. This may be a long post....


My husband and I have several sets of friends and friends of friends who have children (of course). Our own children are quite young (4 and 6) and are generally the youngest kids when we get together with friends, no matter the occasion. Can you believe I have not met a single respectful and genuinely nice kid under 10 since we moved here 3 years ago? It really blows my mind. These kids are disrespectful to their parents and most are down-right mean. Yesterday my 4-year-old son had his head forceably squashed in a door (with line marks down his cheek) by a child nearly twice as big as he is. Was that child punished or even scolded? Why no; why would she be??? Afterall, my son should not want to play with other children - yes, the reason this happened was because that girl did not want him to play in the room with all of the other children!! This same child wrote a note and posted it on the refridgerator (not her own, btw) saying that my children were not allowed to get anything out of it while she pulled various snacks out of it herself. This type of behavior is not uncommon by any means. I constantly have to protect my children from older, larger, more aggressive children - the other parents rarely get involved!


I was raised in the South, where children address adults with Mr. and Mrs., say yes and no ma'am when talked to, and don't have to be supervised around other children because they know how to handle themselves! The parents that I've met seem to be intimidated by their own children and therefore do not teach them manners of any sort.


Unfortunately, it's my own kids who are getting the short end of the stick. They share their toys and snacks with children who will not reciprocate by sharing their own. They are polite to kids who are rude, they don't hit/bite/kick back when that is what has happened to them. What a fine line to walk with my children - Honey, I need you to follow all of Mommy's rules even when another child is allowed to jump around on the furniture (not on mine, btw)/curse/make a mess/push/scream/be a menace and nobody does anything about it. I need you to be polite without being a push-over. I expect you to keep your hands to yourself until another child hits you first. That's what it's coming to with these kids that are not being taught that hitting is not ok. If the parents are not going to step in, then I'm going to allow my own children to protect themselves and stand up for them when they do.


I'm also going to start breaking one of my own rules. One of the things I was taught growing up is that you do not interfere with other people's children - but then, my parents' friends always corrected their children themselves. I guess that I'm going to have to start filling in for the other parents. I will give the other parents the opportunity to talk to their children - if that doesn't happen, I'm going to do it myself. It's likely to end some friendships, but so be it. I will no longer stand by and let my children be bullied by mean little brats. Don't get me wrong, I will not lay a hand on them but I will let them know that what they are doing will not be accepted. If they continue to act out, they will no longer be allowed to 'play' with my children or allowed over to my house. I'm sure this is going to go over like a lead balloon but I am sick to death of looking into my children's questioning faces when they are scolded for something that other kids are allowed to get away with.

Moving soon?

I hope so. We put in an offer on a house that was accepted about 2 weeks ago now. We are in escrow and things seem to be moving right along. This house was a compromise between the husband and myself - he wanted a house that was large that was very sound structurally so that he could immediately start remodeling (beautifying). I wanted a house that was large enough without being too big, with land to have the animals, trees, and garden that I would like.


The house that we are buying has about an acre and a half. It has a small pasture (maybe half an acre) that my horse will use. Because I am keeping the horse, we will not have goats - another compromise between hubby and I.


One of the first things I looked for when we went to see the house was fruit-bearing trees/bushes/vines. There are two walnut and a pomegranate. I would consider keeping the walnut trees but they don't look very healthy - several large, dead branches on each. We'll make the final call in the spring but right now it looks like they may have to be removed. I would rather have other trees than pomegranate so it may be removed as well. Wish-list trees include tangerine, apple, and nectarine. There are a few small oleander bushes that will have to go. They are nice-looking but I don't want poisonous plants on the property.


In the back yard, there is a very nice fence to grow grapes on. In a very shady corner (too shady?), I noticed some brambles growing. Not sure yet what kind they are but my guess is they are blackberry - they grow wild around here. I haven't yet figured out where to plant the blueberry bushes.


There are two rather large outbuildings, the largest of which will be used for hay, feed, etc. The other will likely be used for tools. There is even a small building that will be modified into a chicken coop. The current plan includes 4-6 hens, including Buff Orpingtons, Easter Eggers, and perhaps Black Australorps.


I'm not sure if we'll be able to keep rabbits as hubby is now acting odd about them. I would like to keep two does and a buck in an outdoor, colony-type setting. I have the perfect spot in mind if I can re-talk Chris into it - he may be wondering what our friends and neighbors will think.


There are several possible spots for the garden, but there's still a lot of time to figure that out before spring. I would like to grow heirloom tomatoes, peppers, and a few types of cowpeas next year.


I still would like to have a honey bee hive or two. Chris has agreed to build a top bar hive for me sometime this winter. I realize that we will get less honey with these hives but from what I've read, it would seem that it's healthier for the bees to build their own comb. Guess we'll find out.


That's it for now, I'll write again when there's something to talk about!

Success!

Canning, that is. I finally got up the gumption to give the canner a go. I made a big pot of Italian sausage soup on Friday with intentions of canning what we didn't eat. By the time I got around to it, there were only about 2 and 3/4 quarts left. I hovered over it the entire time, watching for signs it was going to blow - which luckily, didn't happen. I was pretty proud of myself when I heard the jars plink. This may become a habit...I'm really looking forward to canning the grapes but they do not seem to want to cooperate by ripening!

House Hunting = no fun...

I'm having dreams (nightmares!) about houses and believe I may be slowly losing my mind...It feels like we have been looking at houses for months (we have, but only about 4 weeks seriously looking). Finding a property that has the features and size that DH wants, the land that I want, within our price range and a decent drive to work is proving to be very difficult indeed. I have decided that 1 acre will probably be too small if we want to keep two dairy goats - afterall, I want them to have somewhere to graze that will not become a dust bowl. We are going to see two more properties this weekend - one of which looks amazing but would mean an hour drive to work everyday. I can only hope that we find what we're looking for before I need to be committed.

Big plans

<--- My new canner!! (and accessories!)

It's been a while and I'm sure it seems like I was taking the summer off. While that's true to an extent, I have also been busy reading, learning, and making plans.

My garden was basically a bust this year. Partially my fault (not getting it tilled early enough, not keeping up with watering and weeding), partially due to our new puppy. Even though the garden is fenced off from the rest of the yard, she continued to break in and destroy the plants - first chewing down every single corn plant, digging up my beans, chewing off the vines on my squash. Recently she has begun to remove grapes, one bunch at a time. Thankfully, she is also getting too large to fit through her usual (and consistently blocked!) holes. She's also slowly learning that doing things like this only results in bad things later. She's extremely smart but also extremely stubborn. One of these days, she's going to be an amazing dog.

My grape vine is going gang-busters - I have many bunches of grapes that are finally starting to ripen. In preparation, I have picked up a brand-new All American pressure canner from Craigslist for an amazing deal! The plan is to make grape jelly when the time comes. I can't wait to use it, though I'm nervous at the same time. There seems to be a tough learning curve on a lot of things involving self-sufficiency. It's too bad I wasn't one of the lucky ones who learned these things growing up. I have also found an apple tree at an unoccupied house in my neighborhood. If there are enough usable apples, I'm going to make my Mom's apple butter!

Doves - too much work without enough in return is the conclusion I have come to. Especially since DH only wanted me to have one pair! I finally just requested that when he starts hunting (have to get the gun and license first) he hunt dove for me, as well as deer.

So, that's the basic update, on the to plans! The hubby and I are finally in the market for a house to call home. Musts include 1+ acre of usable land, a fireplace/wood stove, a kitchen that's easy to work in, and a large pantry or room enough to put one in ourselves. We've seen a few that fit the bill but we seem to find these properties 5 minutes too late. We're going to keep looking.

In the meantime I have started to use my dehydrator for fresh foods that we can't seem to use in time - one of our biggest problems is waste! I can't wait to have a few chickens to help with any leftovers. I plan to start with 3-4, maybe up to 6 hens the first year. Then I'd like to buy 5-10 straight run chicks the following year allowing a roo to two to mature a bit. If one of my hens go broody, let her raise some chicks, butcher the roo and do the same the following year. I don't want to keep a permanent roo for many reasons. These are my current thoughts on the subject anyway.

I have finally talked the hubby into letting me have a few rabbits as well. I would like to have a colony, and raise the fryers in grow-out cages as they get bigger. Big reason for the grow-out is I plan to have Californian, NZW, or a cross between the two and I don't know how I'd keep them all straight if I let the youngsters get too big before separating them all. Besides, I'll need the poo for the garden. What I've read suggests that rabbits in a colony breed pretty fast, so I'm thinking only 2 does and a buck should keep us in meat pretty well. When it's time, we'll keep a doe or two for replacements from my stock and buy a outstanding buck from other stock. I really like the idea of keeping the breeders in a more natural setting.

Now, for goats. I plan on getting two dairy does - breed has not yet been determined. All bucklings will go into the freezer, along with most of the doelings. After a few years, I plan to breed my best doe to the best buck I can find in the hopes of getting a doeling to keep as an eventual replacement. The other doe's kids will all be sold/butchered. I have no desire to show or keep registered animals - I'm already busy - so the buck may be of a different breed. I don't really care as long as he comes from a long line of exceptional dairy animals. All kids will be separated at night, I will milk first thing in the morning, and kids will be allowed in with the does for the remainder of the day. I realize this will cut down on the milk that I get for my family but it will also significantly cut down on extra chores as well as help keep me from getting too attached to the kids. From what I've read, it makes for some pretty tasty meat as well.

I also plan to have a hive or two of honey bees. I want to use the 'top bar hives' I've read about for several reasons. First, natural is always healthier, both for the animals and for my family. Second, the cost of bee equipment is rather inhibitive. Finally, we don't need that much honey - I don't plan to sell it, just want it for personal use.

Besides all this, we'll have a large garden every year, lots of fruit trees, a strawberry bed, and blueberry bushes. We may also plant butterfly bushes around the property for the bees and aesthetics.

I realize that things don't usually go according to plan, so this is a rough outline, subject to change.

One week update

I finally got some of the plants in the ground (beans, corn, etc.) Later today I'll be planting squash in the front and back. Some of the strawberries are coming up - they are tiny! I hope I can keep them alive long enough to plant them outside. It looks like I'll have to start some pepper seeds inside because the ones outside aren't coming up. It's a real possibility that they got dried out at sometime during sprouting and didn't recover.

The search for doves so far has be futile - it seems that there just aren't a lot of folks breeding them. Guess I'll just have to keep looking...or start bugging Hubby about rabbits instead :)

Well, it's nearly the end of the semester. I've got to finish my final presentation which is due tomorrow. Then we have our final test on Wednesday. I cannot wait for this class to be over!

A wonderful Mother's Day

Wow, I had a great day thanks to the three most important people in my life. We were out all day today but the kids were wonderful, even though they are thoroughly exhausted (Little Man is currently passed out on the couch). We started the day at the Sportsman's Warehouse - hubby has been wanting to show me this place for weeks! We left with a case for hubby's bow - an early anniversary gift. I've been looking at them online but when we went today I decided, what the heck? This way he can pick it out himself - he's rather particular, and currently happier than a pig in the sunshine.

From there, we went around to a few pet stores. I was looking for a book on doves but wasn't successful in acquiring one. Flight cages were also on the list of look-ats (and eventual must-haves). As the day went on, I could tell hubby was coming around to the dove idea. After all, they're quiet, beautiful, don't take much space, don't stink, and aren't considered agricultural animals. Our final stop was supposed to be to pick up a pair of black clown fish for my salt water reef tank. The only fish at the store had a lot of orange on their face, so we decided to wait on another shipment. Hubby was pretty disappointed by this - thought that it somehow ruined my day - so he said I could get my doves! Yay! I'm going to be doing a lot of research over the next couple of weeks, but I think I want ringneck doves. They seem to come in a lot of color variations, which will definitely keep things interesting! What I've read suggests that pigeons would be a better choice for meat (because of their larger size) but people seem to have completely different feelings when it comes to pigeons. So, doves it is. Not that I mind one bit.

After the final pet store, hubby wanted to stop by Home Depot to pick out a shed. Afterall, he's going to need to do some rearranging outside so the doves can have protected spot on our back porch. While we were there I decided to give the blueberries one last shot - and they had some! Woohoo! We picked up one bush each of the Misty and Oneal varieties. The Oneal bush already has a little cluster of berries on it. I am ridiculously excited about this - I've been looking for blueberries for a year now. No one ever has them and online stores can't ship theirs to CA. It's been extremely frustrating. We are going to plant these guys in the front yard under our pine tree in the coming week. I may also root a few cuttings so we can take them along when we move.

Our final stop was dinner at a fabulous little Mexican joint on the way home. Wow they have the best food! Delish. As we were headed home I mentioned that someone at work told me about an alternate route we could take to get back to the base. 'Really? Wanna check it out?' asked Hubby? Sure! It's been a long time since we did anything even a little unexpected. The other route took us on a nice drive through the country, around an enormous lake and finally down a gravel road back to one of the base entrances. It was beautiful back there. It really is too bad CA has such high property taxes. I would not mind living in this area one bit.

So, that was my day. It was the best Mother's Day yet.

New books and random other things

I had to run some errands today and while I was out I picked up three new books! Storey's Guide to Raising Dairy Goats and Chickens and Basic Butchering of Livestock and Game by Mettler. I won't have time to read them anytime soon but I have something to look forward to when I get some free time.

I got my herbs planted this evening. Lavender, Thyme, Basil, and Parsley. I can't find my packet of chives seeds. Chamomile is next on the list if I can it. Also planted some California Poppies. They grow wild around here and are just amazingly beautiful. I didn't want to mess with the wild ones so blew 99 cents on a package of seeds. I can't wait to have some blooming outside my door.

The cauliflower seedlings are already growing like gangbusters. They just peeked above soil this morning and they're suddenly over an inch tall! The top is off the little greenhouse right now as it was pretty steamy in there. Every seed I've started inside has died due to damping-off disease so I'm trying to prevent that. I also read somewhere that watering with chamomile tea will prevent this problem. When they need watering, I'll give it a shot. The corn is already coming up too - planted two days ago. This why I love gardening - the promise of things to come!

New seedlings!

Yay, some of my cauliflower seedlings came up over night. So far, seven of the 12 have sprouted - in 4 days! I'm very impressed with the quality of this seed. Nothing from the strawberries yet, but here's hoping. We're off and running!

On another note, I had a dangerous thought last night...I can't have chickens because they are considered farm animals. I can't have rabbits because of the limits on the number of pets we can have and because the hubby would not be keen on the smell. But, maybe, just maybe, I can have some doves. I had dove once as a child and I have never forgotten how wonderful it was - they were delicious! Today after house-cleaning, gardening, and homework I plan to do some research on dove/pigeon husbandry. This may be do-able!

Slow progress

I haven't been able to get out in the garden as much as I wanted to this week, but did get a few things done. I've got some corn starting indoors and will start some beans tonight - just so I can have them going before the garden is done. I also got a planter ready to go for the cauliflower seedlings when they're ready.

We picked up some herb seeds earlier this week and hope to get the little herb bed dug this weekend, along with getting some of those blackberry canes mentioned in a previous post. I also ordered the plastic drum for my composter. The person selling barrels locally was over 4 hours away so I ended up buying on ebay.

Here's hoping that there's enough time in the day tomorrow to get some things done outside!

Some pictures

My pride and joy, a grape vine! We moved here over the winter of 2006 and saw this random vine growing from under the house. Naturally, we cut it as far back as we could - we would have removed it completely if we'd have been able to. Imagine my surprise when it started leafing out in spring and I realized we had a grape vine! It was cut back too severely to produce anything last year, but it's now covered with flower buds. Can't wait for fresh grapes. (Forgive the riding lawnmower - we have no where else to store it).

Not much to look at but these two pictures show the future garlic beds. The soil in this spot seems really nutrient deficient, though the roses do very well. I plan on adding some compost to get it ready.

Future strawberry patch! Last year this bed was full to the brim with begonias but many of them did not make it through the winter. This seems like the perfect spot for them - right by the front door, lots of sunlight, easy to observe. I decided to grow Alpine strawberries because they come true from seed but what I've read recently makes them seem rather difficult to grow. If nothing else, I can buy some strawberry plants from Wal-Mart, though I hope I won't have to.

As you can see, this bed houses five miniature roses. This is most likely where I will plant the chives that my hubby bought. This spot was full of small river rocks when we moved in. I removed most of them but the soil still doesn't seem very nutrient rich. This spot will also benefit from some compost. The bricks are going to go towards another project.

The hubby has agreed to help me make a composter. I know it seems ridiculous but I'm pretty excited. Buying dirt just seems so ridiculous somehow. Until mine gets going though, that's just what I'm going to have to do. These are the plans we're going to use: http://http//www.wikihow.com/Build-a-Tumbling-Composter

I hope it's going to be as easy as it looks! There is a fella on Craigslist selling drums, so that will be our first move.

I haven't talked about animals. The eventual goal will be to have some laying hens, dairy goats, meat rabbits, a few pigs, and perhaps a Jersey cow. Every spring we'll order some chicks for meat and perhaps buy a calf or two to put on the cow, as well as breeding her back. We'll probably drink the goat milk and use the leftover cow's milk (if there is any) for cheese, butter, cream. This is all a long ways off - when we finally get to buy our land. I tried to talk the base into letting me have a few laying hens but they were having none of it. As for the rabbits, I could probably get away with it if I had somewhere outside to put them. Luckily, I have a friend who raises rabbits for show. The ones that don't make the cut get sold to a processor so I'm talking to her about buying them myself. I figure it will save her a trip, I just hope she doesn't think I'm too weird.

The hubby is getting into the self-reliance groove a bit too - we bought a bow and he's going to learn to hunt. He's so excited. We're also going to buy him a shot gun for bird hunting - if you've ever had dove, you know that they are worth the time and effort. We're also looking forward to trying some quail - they seem to be everywhere here. He's going to take a safety course over the summer in order to get his license. He's acting like a kid at Christmas.

That's all for now, kids gotta get to school!

Here goes nothin'

For as long as I can remember, I have loved animals and plants of all types. I also loved stories and books that included self-reliance in the storyline...Some of my favorites as a child were The Boxcar Kids and the Island of the Blue Dolphins for that very reason. Finally, last year (hey, I never claimed to be intelligent!), I realized that I could put all of these things together. It even has a name - homesteading!

I joined some forums and started reading all that I could and am starting to form some ideas on how I want my eventual homestead to function. There is a problem however - I'm in the Air Force so I can't exactly put down roots. Not only that, but I live on-base meaning that there are many rules that I have to follow regarding how my yard is supposed to look, what animals I'm allowed to keep, etc. For now, I plan to stay in until retirement which is 12 years away. This leaves lots of time for planning but is also immensely frustrating somehow. I've never been a very patient person and dreaming and planning for something so far off almost hurts. Another thing is it's going to be so hard to start from scratch every time we move. You've gotta do what you've gotta do though.

So, here goes. I'm getting a late start this year, but better late than never. Two weeks ago I finally got some seeds in the ground - jalapenos, sweet peppers, tomatoes, cuke. This weekend, I'm hoping to get the beans planted (Blue Lake and Romano). Tonight I started some Alpine strawberries and cauliflower seeds indoors.

Future plans include digging a bed on the east side of the house for the cauliflower, as well as broccoli, spinach, and lettuce. It gets so hot here in the summer that I believe these vegetables will do best if shaded from the afternoon sun. I'll also be starting them indoors for the most part. I plan to plant garlic on either side of the roses in the front, as well as chives. I'm also going to plant a small herb garden - most likely in the back. This weekend we're going out to dig up a few wild blackberries. These will go on the west side of the house. We would also like some blueberries but finding them locally is proving to be tough.

I would love to plant some fruit trees but we'd have to leave before they got large enough to produce anything. We've been looking at dwarf trees, but I'm not sure that any truly stay small enough that we'd be able to take them when we leave.

That's it for now, as it's getting pretty late. I would leave with a few pictures but can't figure out how to move them where I want them (they automatically show up at the beginning of the post?) and I'm too tired to play with it tonight. Ciao.