Beef and Barley Soup.

I have wanted to make beef and barley soup since last year but never got to it. Well, we have now!


I found a great recipe on the internet. We spent an entire day cutting veggies. 50 carrots diced is no small feat!!! Yikes. The girls survived the great effort. Everyone kept a good attitude too. We made a total of 44 quarts in all. It took 3 days of presure canning.

I had to purchase the carrots, onions, garlic, celery and seaonings but we had the 4 roasts on hand.

In the end they cost .89 cents each!

The soup tastes great. Yum.

Wedding Day!

My second step son, Aaron, married his long time girl friend, Shelley on Sunday the 15th. It was a lovely Baha'i wedding. We all had a nice time. I will add pictures when we get them back. In the mean time- this is what I made for the wedding gift.

New Moo!

Jody and I himmed and hawed about getting a cow again this year. It was tempting to think of not hauling hay and water all winter yet again.
But, then we looked in the freezer and saw the dwindling supply of beef and realised it is well worth the effort.

I thought maybe I had kinda missed the boat as we are looking at the end of June and I usually get a calf by May.

Soooo- on Thursday, I made a call to Goods Cattle Co. They are the middle man between the local farmers and the big beef growers in the south. I heard that they sometimes have left over calves and local folks can get them.

Well that is the deal. I made the call and Vayda and I swung over and picked out a little red head cutie. Our first cow was a black jersey cross and the second is a black and white Holstein. This is our first little red guy. He is also the biggest one.

Upon our return Vayda, Ben, and I spent 2 hrs in the rain and thunder....and lightning....building a tent and pen for him. I didnt exactly plan ahead. Once he was tucked in bed all was well. He is healthy and spunky.

#'s..... Our first cow was $53 counting gas to and from (he was scrawny though), the second was $65 and this one was $71 (he is big AND I didnt have to drive an hr + to get him).

We saved our left over milk replacer so thats starting him out of the cheap. I wont be keeping track of all the calf starter, grain and hay that goes into him over the next 18 mo. That with the butcher price still comes in under the cost of grass fed beef (he will be finished on grass alone) at about $6 per lb. The quality of the beef is outstanding! And- its so nice to have 200 lbs of hamburg, a hill o steaks + roasts etc etc etc in the freezer.

Back to the cuteness.....I forgot how nice it is to have a baby on the home stead. Hes sweet with his red head and freckled pink nose. :)

JAMMIN!

Strawberry Jam! YUM!!!

Its just not possible to be unhappy while canning jam.
The entire house smells of sweet berries and sugar. Every kid who enters the house comes bouncing to the kitchen for a sweet taste of the good stuff.


Elanee, Vayda, Maya Rae and I went to
Cassim farms and did the U-Pick thing. We brought home over 40 lbs of berries. Then it was to Sauders for a 50lb bag of sugar and a load of powdered pectin.

The girls and I, with help from neighbors, Saige and Ravyn, removed all the tops from the berries. Vayda washed and measured them into quarts. I spent all day yesterday canning. It was a perfect day with bright sun and a cool breeze through the kitchen.

In the end we had 62 pints of jam.

Here are the #'s rounded.....sugar $20, lids $10, pectin $22, berries $43, Lemon $3 for a total of $98. Sounds like alot but.....thats just $1.58 per jar for a top quality jam with no toxic waste in it. Sauders sells a comparable jam for $3 ish. Thats a savings of $1.48 each or $91.76 total! Not too shabby!!!

I would make this jam even if it cost more than the store. Its just TOO good. mmmmmm :)

The Bag Lady

A few weeks ago I sat down and sewed 20 fabric bags. I used all recycled fabric. Most of it had been handed down to me from friends.

The striped bag was once a sheet turned curtain....now bag. The black bag was once a bathroom sink skirt. There are several flash backs to the 70's. Some cute plaid. A rooster picture. All are fun.

We are getting into the habit of bringing them shopping with us. We have had some nice comments.

It feels good down size the piles of fabric and to stop the flow of plastic bags from coming into the house.

Letchworth State Park

Jody and I took a trip to Letchworth State Park for our 10th wedding ann.

We spent 3 days camping, biking and hiking. We had a great time. We ate at the Glen Iris our first night in the park. Fancy dancy!The park was beautiful and we enjoyed lots of interesting wild life including baby deer, beaver, 3 colors of skunk, and even an otter!

Nice time with the spouce. ;)

What my beautiful daughter did today.

Today my lovely daughter did an amazing thing!

Ms. Vayda made an appointment with her school principle to discuss a problem.

Vayda has been struggling with the fact that students in her class and others in the halls use racial slurs, derogatory terms, distasteful slang and hate talk as a regular part of each day. This is done to her, around her and in front of teachers and no one ever addresses it.

So on this day she sat with the principle and discussed this issue. She brought up specific terms including "Stupid Jew", "Beaner", "Mulotto","Shut up and eat your rice and beans" and "what color do you think I am?" She even presented the principle with a printed definitions of certain terms.

The principle was stunned. First that this was happening and second that a 13 yr old would have the interest in this topic and the bravery to open this discussion. She took notes and was very respectful and grateful for the meeting. She asked Vayda to speak to the student council and suggested an assembly to set things off in a better direction.

I am so proud to have a daughter who is appalled by this type of talk and who is brave enough to take steps to better her world.

AFRICA

Africa!

This was fun. We studied Africa by learning about several countries there. Maya made an elephant out of an oatmeal container and a Kenian drum from a dowl and circular craft box.

We read
"Africa for Kids" and learned about traditional African garb. I had an acutal piece of fabric from Zambia.
This frabric was a gift from Becky Dibble. When Vayda got home she also got into the dress up thing. We were able to create a 'chitangi' for Emma. Funny stuff. Elanee worked hard to create a
family dinner of an South African meat pie, bread and hummis.





That got rave reviews.

To finish off our study we watched several documentaries on the African safari.

Prairie Native Americans

Along with the study of the pioneer days came the study of prairie Native Americans. This was fun. We read a book, found some traditionally dressed Native American Barbies representing two differnt areas and built a super cool TeePee out of sticks, burlap and cardboard. We even created a tiny fire pit with real rocks and construction paper flames.
Of course these ladies live in peace with the pioneer Barbie.

Little House on the Prairie

I read Little House on the Prairie to Maya. We really got into the pioneer days. As part of this exploration we watched the movie, found a great little pioneer dress on Ebay for her Barbie and we built a cool covered wagon with a shoe box, fabric and hot glue.

Mommy really got into this ;)

A Mural

Maya asked if she could draw on her blanket with Sharpies. I said, "Why Not". She created this great mural of an arbor, flowers with roots, the sun and clouds. Pretty darn cool!

Russia

Maya Rae studied Russia.

Vayda and Maya made a cake in the shape of the Russian
flag.



On another day, Maya and Vayda made the word "Russia" out of pretzle dough. Maya really got into the mushing of the dough.

New skills

New Skills!




Maya made her very own skirt in Sept 06. She did all of the cutting, ironing, and sewing herself. I stayed very close by. It was a great accomplishment for a 6 yr old.

Maya Rae loves to cook. Here she is making scrambled eggs for the first time. It didnt take long till she was a pro. Now she can make eggs and toast, tomato soup and of course her main staple, PBJ.

Daddy Time

Daddy Time.....

Jody reads Winnie the Pooh to Maya.

As part of school Jody has been teaching Maya to play the recorder. Jody is blessed with a great
musical talent- though he would never admit its great.

He plays the trombone, piano, recorder, guitar, and though I wont admit it, the accoridan.

Wed night group guitar lessons with dad.

All the kids have an interest in playing the guitar.

New clothes

This is such a nice picture of Vayda and Maya Rae. :)

Vayda and I got creative in early Sept 06.

Vayda wanted new clothes for school. She has a great eye for fun, kind of original clothes. I like that about her. So- we bought a cheap mini skirt. She cut it super short and died it dark blue with Rit dye. I sewed a piece of beautiful batik fabric under the denim. Its awesome. All the kids at school were ravin'.

Then, with the little piece of scrap fabric I made Maya a skirt too.

On this day it was just fluke that they were dressed alike.

Final ranglin of the cow

In October 06 we were getting ready to have the cow leave. I swear he knew it too cause he kept breaking out of his pasture. It was such a pain!

This picture shows him at 600lbs and in

my garden...rrrrrr! He had just finished eating the spinach and walking on the strawberry plants.

I managed to entise him out with a bucket of corn and a dog leash. Ben and I managed to tie him to a tree were he waited out the night. Our butcher, Arlin Bender, was kind to

come out at 6 am to collect the critter.

Elanee at the Sciencenter

This Elanee looking at the bee display

at the Ithaca Sciencenter. I took Elanee,

Vayda and Maya Rae to the Sciencenter

for a day of fun. We followed it up

with a romp at Stewart Park. Good day.

Camping at Day Star Ridge in July 06

This past summer I took the girls and Emma dog to Day Star Ridge in Guilford NY for a camping weekend. This camp site is at the top of a hill and is gorgous. It is Baha'i owned and run. There is a pavillion, out houses, a huge play ground a lovely 9 point star fire pit, cooking facilities and 9 foot paths winding down and around the hill and past beautiful wild flowers and berrie bushes. This gathering was in honor of the Martyrdom of the Bab holy day. We all had a great time! I think I am too old to sleep in a tent on hard ground though. The above picture shows all the children...Elanee, Vayda, Quddus, Vahid, Tusuli, Ruhi & Emma dog, Walayla, John and Maya Rae. Visit Day Star Ridge on the web at http://daystarridge.com/

Unschooling ring

Check out this unschooling ring.

Valentines

This a paper purse I made in the spirit of Valentines Day. Cute.

Good Quote

This quote inspired me to make a plaque to display it. Turned out great I think.

Ayyam-i-Ha Gifts

These are some cool gifts I madefor the kids for Ayyam-i-Ha this year.One for Vayda.

They are those $1.79 wooden letters you can get at Walmart in the craft dept + lots of paper, ink and chochkies ;) This one is for Elanee.

Neat huh? This one is for me :)

This one is for Maya Rae.
This last one is for my brother's son.

Ayyam-i-Ha at our House

We celebrated Ayyam-i-Ha at our house. Every year since I became a Baha'i I have been trying to find a cool way to decorate for this holiday. This year I decided that an Ayyam-i-Ha bush
was just the ticket!

Now let me say- that NO other

Baha'i has a wacky Ayyam-i-Ha bush. This is just a Norton thing- K?

We bought a metal plant holder thingy at Walmart & stuck a green foam block down in it. Vayda cut lilac branches. I stuck the sticks into the foam. Maya & our neighbor Saige covered the foam up with polished stones from Walmart. I cut 9 point starts out of polymer clay and baked them. Vayda and a friend, Nicole, painted the stars funky colors. I strung the stars and Maya decorated the bush.

I love it. Its really cool even without the stars. This is where we placed the kids gifts too. Of course they are wrapped in left over Xmas paper ;) Walmart was plum outa Ayyam-i-Ha paper again this year.

Great project!

Missing an old friend

Today I am missing my old friend, Blake.

Today is Blake's birthday. He was born to his mother Norma on Nov 21, 1971. He was the youngest of 7 in a blended family. Blake Douglas Grant was brought home to Romulus NY and spent his entire childhood living in one of two houses there on Main Street. At one year old his father died in a car accident. The family story goes that Blake was napping in his crib and at the exact moment of his father's death (they learned later) Blake stood up and screamed unconsolably. His father is buried in the Romulus cemetery. Blake brought me to his father's grave several times over the years. He dreamed that he would be buried there by his dad. He was close with several of his half siblings. He looked up to Scott and spoke very highly of him. Two of his sisters, Linda and Charlotte, were close to his heart growing up. His most beloved childhood friend was his pet Doberman pincher.

I met Blake in the 9th grade when our family moved from Waterloo to Romulus. This was 1985. We were more or less acquaintances through the 9th grade. In the 10th grade I had connected with a friend, Heather and we heard rumors of this guy Blake having gone through some tough stuff over the summer. There were kids picking on him and he looked alone and down. We decided to go see him in the library and "be his friends". We did and he was. Seen here...Lauretta, Heather, Blake and I- age 16ish-spent endless hours together over the next three years. Our entire high school experience was wrapped around each other. We nicked named him Butch. We went to dances together, we did sleep overs, we roller skated at the Auburn mall & saw the WWF live. We did countless concerts including Guns N Roses, Aero Smith, Metallica & Queens Ryche to name a few. We did Perkins restaurant at 2 am, Wegman's magazine isle and hollered out the car at the hotties at Hobart. We chased our crushes around.

Following graduation we did more of the same but carried on from the Community College of the Finger Lakes. We skipped many classes and went bowling or hung out by the lake or at the mall . In 1992 Blake was in hall while I gave birth to Elanee. He was there for me for 5 yrs through my first husband woes. Hes the only one to visit me after Vayda was born. He taught me the joys of pepperoni & strawberry milk, cheese in a can & Balies Irish Cream with chocolate milk. He put me though countless Disney Films & quotes from those films, re-enactments of every Queens Ryche and Maria Carey song ever made, and endless performances of new Karate moves. Not to mention relentless tacklings and molestations. But, as we agreed then, "You can't rape the willing".

After I became a Baha'i, divorced my first husband & was marrying my second. I got high and mighty I guess. I decided that I 'didn’t approve' of Blakes life style. I had had enough of his ups and downs (struggles). After he found his partner, Chris, I pushed him away. Five years were lost to this foolishness.

Then out of the blue, on my 31st birthday, the phone rang and it was Blake. I was stunned and thrilled. I was sorry for pushing him away like that and all he said was, "We all have to go through what we have to go through". From there things were back to normal. Heather, Blake and I spent the next two years in a wonderful whirl of friendship. Retta had moved to North Carolina. The two years were spent full of 3 way calls -crazy talks, Blake and I breaking into song from Moulon Rouge- "All you need is love". He called me his Grace (from Will & Grace). Our three families got together for Thanksgiving, Christmas & summer BBQs. We did the Chinese Buffet. I stroked his new fuzzy head.

All of this came to an abrupt stop one morning in January of 2003. That morning I was having computer troubles. Though I knew Blake was a work and I had never done this before, I decided to call him for help. His brother answered his cell phone. The long story short is that strong healthy Blake, for no aparent reason, had died suddenly while getting ready for work.

With his death came the end of an era of cherished friendships. I know Blake has come to visit me since his death. Though its infrequent now, I cherish this and am thankful that I have been open to these experiences. I look forward to reuniting with him.

SO-This is why I am sad today. I am being selfish longing for a good solid squeeze from his strong arms and broad shoulders. I miss my old friend and wish I could just pick up the phone & say, "Happy Birthday, Blake!"