Evolve or Die

Two separate events have me thinking...a discussion with a client who is a family court judge and a National Geographic article on Darwin and the 150yr anniversary of the publication of The Origin of Species.
Survival of the fittest, hmm I wonder. The human species is doomed. We enable the weak to survive and reproduce. Drug addicts and violent offenders have children who are predisposed, whether through genetics or environment, to also be violent offenders or drug addicts. These are children who would not likely live without the help of society. Foster care, social services are great for the individual but are they good for the human race as a whole? Are we enabling inferior genetics to survive? What are the implications hundreds of years from now?

Another thought along the Darwinian lines, a species separated geographically(or socio-economically?) will evolve to thrive in their environment. What does this mean for inner-city youth? The tools they need to survive their environment are much different than those needed by prep school kids. If these subcultures are isolated will we evolve into sub-species??

I am not being elitist-I probably would not have made it to reproduction age without medical intervention. I am also the biggest softy in the world, but I've been thinking and questioning the world, questioning normal. Kris

This Sounds Lke Fun!

This meme came from Stephanie.
The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me. I will try to make these be about or tailored to those five lucky people. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
- What I create will be just for you.- It’ll be done this year
- You have no clue what it’s going to be.
The catch? Oh, the catch is that you have to put this in your journal as well, if you expect me to do something for you! And please link to your blog so that I can visit and read in case we are new friends.

Closet pictures-creating space

These are before and after pictures of a closet we used throw crap into! It is over the stairs to the basement and is also the access to the roof space, so it is this funky little slanted 'crawl-in' closet. It looks like it was the favorite space for every child who ever lived in the house-there are all kinds of messages in marker and crayon written on the wood! perfect hideaway for kids, not great usable space for storage-but it is what I have so I will use it. Now I get to watch for good prices on flour, honey, beans etc. If (when!) I learn how to can I will use even more of this space. The space needed to be there before I could think about food storage. I get a little freaked out when I realize how fragile our food system is. I mean if grocery stores only have a few days of inventory on hand, what happens if...

Personal responsibility is taking on a whole new meaning for me. It's scary to think how dependent we all are. Kris

Not the dishwasher too!

Let me add to the list of things I can do without! Our dishwasher died last week, we have a new part ordered for it but it will be a while! My girls love (!) doing dishes by hand and both have requested to NOT get the dishwasher fixed. I have to say I don't mind doing them by hand-kind of enjoy the time where my hands are busy and allowing my mind to catch up and then wander free. We will get it fixed-make real estate person happy probably, but in the mean time I will enjoy doing supper dishes with the girls and making soap sud beards and crowns on us all!

I cleaned out a closet to be used for food storage, it looks great-unfortunately all the stuff i drug out of there is still sitting on the dining room table so we have been eating supper in front of the TV. Sigh! I'll save a box or two from work and get it all off to Goodwill on my next day off.

I have to say I miss reading! I used to sit down on a weekend and wrap myself up in a great science fiction or fantasy. We have all been so busy with these new projects that I haven't done that in a long time. Balance, balance, balance! Maybe just a couple of hours this weekend with a great cup of coffee, some fuzzy slippers and blanket. Enjoy the day! Kris

(Judy -thanks for the award. I'm thinking about how to pass it on!)

I'm Back

I haven't been posting for a while. I have been holding my breath...and now it is time to breathe again (before I turn blue!). I have been waiting all week to meet with the woman who's property we wish to buy. She owns the farmstead next to my fathers land. It went well, she IS interested in selling this spring. So I will begin to breathe again and start looking/thinking forward again. She showed us around a little and my ideas are less abstract now!

(picture of back corner of yard-well traveled path to bunnies)

I don't have anything earth shattering to write about, just another week! The first week of cold lunch was fine. L6 loved it, I think she makes new friend where ever she goes, E10 is resigned to it-she is a creature of habit and doesn't like things to change. I have relented some and am allowing them one hot lunch per week-they can pick a favorite meal. We will have another sandwich making session Sunday afternoon. The cloth TP idea is pretty cool, I think-but I need another mesh bag for laundry days! Still on the compact! Nothing new purchased since the week of christmas, picked up 6 pairs of jeans at thrift store for $48.



I am planning a raised bed veggie garden for this spring! I have been thinking about where to put it... the sunniest place in our yard is the SE corner but that is very visible right between the house and an intersection-not so great for selling the place. I think instead I will find a place in the NW corner down by the alley-this is where our bunnies, compost area and metal shed are, it will be trickier to find >6hrs of sun down there and I will need a longer hose. It is also lower than the sunny corner -the grass is always green down there, even in August when the lawn in front of the house is a brown crisp (the mosquitoes love it).



It may seem silly to plant a garden you hope to NOT harvest, but i need this for my mental health. I can't go another year on the giant hamster wheel and the garden is a symbol of independence. I am off to fill up the bread machine before going to work! This weekend is also our family's last Christmas get together with my sisters family-we will be out at Dad's farm to snowshoe and eat chili! Kris

doing not thinking is a wonderful thing!

'Doing not thinking' and 'Be the change you want to see in the world' have become my new mantras. It is a relief to start doing!

• After a Christmas full of dietary backsliding, I am back to eating in a manner which is more respectful of my health. I really noticed my joints hurt -I wonder if sugar has something to do with that? I am back at the gym-but not 6 days a week, I am instead aiming for 4 great workouts-balance in all things.
• I am balancing my checkbook and following the compact-DH and L6 are in need of some clothes so I will anticipate and look for resale instead of 'I need them right now lets go to target/kohl's'.
• DH and I spent Sunday afternoon preparing food and cooking together, this week we have great leftovers to eat and my salad vegggies are all cut up--no excuses! My chicks and I made sandwiches for cold lunches (E10 cried!-she is not used to me following up on my 'ideas') and bagged up dried cranberries and snack stuff.
• I put a basket in the bathroom with pieces of flannel rags and explained the the girls that if they wish to save water they can use these instead of TP (only for #1 though!!) there is a mesh bag to put the used one in which will go right into the washer. L6 thought this was the coolest thing, DH and E10 think I am strange! Not getting the 'what can i do without?'.
• The best part was setting a goal of putting the house on the market by april 1st, and calling the two property owners on either side of my dads place--I had to leave a message in both cases, but I am doing something instead of saying someday or i wish...

Kris

Learning Curve

We received our 1/2 grass fed beef the other day...wow the hamburger and steak we have had are out of this world. It's like a different species!! That along with reading Joe Salatin's Pastured Poulty book have me unwilling to eat industrial meat again. This goes hand-in-hand with my desire to eat a clean diet and not rely on processed foods. I do have a problem though...I really have no idea how to cook this way-how to stretch a pot roast or a chicken without rice-a-roni. Oh yeah and get supper on the table in 30 minutes or less, oh yeah and something the kids will eat. HELP! Well the chicks will have to adjust! They are so used to chicken nuggets and mac 'n cheese-heaven help them if they have to chew something! School lunches do not help this either-ugh I feel a rant coming on....ok better now. So many opportunities for improvement, I am truely fortunate :) Today we are going snowshoeing at my dad's farm about 30 minutes away and then we will stop at the Amish bulk foods store near his place. That is my baby step for today.

Other news--a whole week of buying nothing new - the compacts first week. I ran out of toothpaste and started using plain baking soda--of course the girls had to try it too, I laughed so hard-you should have seen their faces-they thought it was awful! They have no idea of the future torture in store for them (evil laugh). Kris

I had logged off when an evil plan formed in my mind...I would like to get the chicks off school hot lunch, but planning and packing sack lunches along with the complaints I am sure I would receive is just not on my agenda for this month...the evil part...child labor... at 10 and 6 they are perfectly able to make their own! I will start them with store bought bread and fruit snacks and gradually shift them the homemade bread and dried apples. (sorry just a little slap happy this am)

Focus

I'm loosing it, my focus (among other things). My mantra for this winter is personal fitness, both fiscal and physical. I have so many ideas running through my head, it's just spinning and I need to concentrate on first things first. I will bring my brain back from all these great ideas-free range chickens, diva cup, no toilet paper (see friends-not-dabbling group -it is being done!), garden for spring, getting house ready to put on market, composting plans, home based business with DH, clean diet vs high protein, required CE for work, staff holiday party, but wait there's more...all this is swirling around. STOP!! Fitness is my goal, the rest will follow. I attended a time management seminar a few years ago. The only meaningful thing which stayed with me was big rocks and little rocks. If you fill your schedule first with little rocks-the big rocks will never fit. If you place the big rocks in your schedule first, the little rocks will fill in around. Fitness and family are the 'big rocks' everything else is just fill.

My Christmas 'haul' was good; some nice warm slippers from the girls and some great books from by DH and mom. For my reading enjoyment this winter: Walden, Affluenza, and two Salatin books: Family friendly farming and Pastured Poultry Profit$.

Our family started a New Year's Eve tradition-we redecorated the tree with popcorn strings, cobs of corn and peanutbutter/seed 'suet'. We put the tree ouside the front door this am -it took the squirrrels about 2 hours to discover it, we had alot of fun together! Kris