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Saturday, April 30, 2011

Levels of "Doneness"

As a husband, father, homeowner, homeschooler, gardener, homesteader, DIY'er, I can tell you (as if you don't already know), there's many levels of "Doneness". By that I mean the myriad of projects that crop up around the home...there's "Done" as in "this project is completely Done with-a-capital-"D" and I won't have to touch it ever again, or...at least until it needs repair again"...and then there's "done" (note the lowercase "d")..also called "done enough"...as in...there's still some stuff that needs to get wrapped up with this project, but it's taken twice as much time and has cost twice as much money as I thought and even though there's some loose ends to tie up, I'm happy enough to call this project "done" and focus on some other stuff for now...I'll get back to wrapping this up soon enough"...If you fall into 2 or more categories that I mentioned in my first sentence then....you know exactly what I'm talking about.
I'm gonna call our home schooling classroom (or "schoolroom" as my wife is training me to call it :^) as "done" with a lowercase "d". There's still some minor loose ends to tie up, but we're at a place where we are moving furniture and resources in. Please allow me, for my own pleasure, to offer a photographic "before and after":

Before:


During:


After:


Before:


During:


After:


Some additional "After" shots:




I've reread through several of my past blogs and I've noticed a trend...right about the last paragraph or so I usually start it off with a sentence like "I'm so blessed that..." and today would be no exception:
I'm so blessed that The Lord has given us the vision and conviction to take the education and training of our children away from the secular public and put it back in our own hands. I'm grateful that He's awakened us and shown Chrissy and I the Biblical Models for parents being the chief educators of their children. I'm blessed to have the financial resources and frugal nature to be able to afford to have my wife at home with our children. I'm blessed to have a father who has the knowledge and willingness to work so hard to help me put this Schoolroom together for my children, and a mother who supports him (and us) so beautifully. I guess....if I can get cheesy or fundamental enough...that I'm just blessed to have children to train up.

Here's to the next generation.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Cold Weather Crops with a side of Ichthyology

Many folks, this time of year, get very excited about The Final Four....us? we get excited about The Final Frost. 'cause that means our cold weather crops can go in the ground.
Aside from the stuff that's been in since last season...garlic, asparagus, some perennial herbs, and onions that we put in 2 weeks ago....we put our early Spring crops in today. We planted:

Strawberries (our patch was looking a bit sparse...I guess a bunch of plants didn't make it through the winter)
Spinach
Kale
Swiss Chard
Lettuces
Carrots
Snap Peas
Broccoli

There's this weird aesthetic that comes from planting stuff from seed....you look over the gardens after you just sowed...and it looks no different than it did before you sowed...still just flat dirt...but now there's this life under there....this hope...this tiny little seed (have you ever seen a carrot seed?? those things are about microscopic!)..in which some amazing chemical reactions (and a few miracles) will take place inside of
that eventually will yield sustenance for my family...it's actually a pretty amazing thing to comprehend.

I get giddy thinking about 2 weeks or so from now...when those tiny little seeds have germinated....where their roots have formed and headed South and their stalks have somehow found North and pushed themselves upwards into the sun....where leaves form and absorb the sun's energy....while roots absorb nutrients from the soil....to grow and mature and provide EXACTLY the nutrients our bodies need to sustain life. I can't imagine that there are many atheist gardeners. I don't see how anyone can watch a seed become a fruit yielding plant and not see God's Hand in that transformation.

It's funny about gardeners....once you've got crops in the ground, you are so much more in tune with nature and weather and what's going on around you....It's raining tonight....which I'm psyched about....I didn't connect my hoses and sprinklers and water my seeds today because I knew it was going to rain...and I know that it's going to rain again early next week...which will be perfect for my seeds to come alive. Sun, heat, rain, dry spells, wet spells, water tables, paths of the sun, birds, rabbits, critters, wind, shade...all of these seemingly mundane things take on so much more importance when you rely on a combination and understanding of all of them to help your crops along. I think back to the early settlers, who had literally life or death riding on the success of their crops....they would have cut off their pinkie finger in exchange for weather.com, right?

Anyway...here's to hoping for a good crop yield this year. I got a couple pictures from today's planting (the kids didn't stay out too long...it was Coooooold today):




Adding in some strawberries to the bare areas of our patch.


Looking foreground to background:
The first garden will be tomatoes come May
Behind that..Spinach
then Carrots
then asparagus/strawberries

Next...since Gavin has become such a pro fisherman in the last 4 days.....we've decided to photograph each different type of fish that he catches...so's that we can learn a bit about them. Here's the different types that he's landed so far:


Bluegill.....some might call it a Pumpkin Seed...or a kivver


Sunfish...or "Sunny"...also called a Kivver by some.


Golden Shiner. I don't remember ever landing these as a kid....in fact, we used to buy shiners to use as bait...they were only an inch or two long, though. I'm not sure how or when these guys got introduced to our pond....but they are cool looking, no? (Ivy thinks so.)

That's about the size of the fishing tally so far....we spotted a MOTHER of a bass the other day, but he swam right past our hook.

Now, for no reason other than she's cute as nails....the girl:


Epic hairdo on this kid...I've never seen anything like it.

We're having a blast getting dirty in the garden and on the dock...hope you are too.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Props to my Pops (and Moms)



That dude right there getting ready to carve up the Thanksgiving Bird....that's my dad. Or, depending on what circle you roll in....
Ray
Raym
Big Ray
The Old Toe
Toesy
Toesy-ose
Old Boy
Pa
Grampa
Beba

This post is for him.

I don't want to put him on too high a pedestal, but I must say, I am honored and blessed to have a man like this train me up as a youngster and come beside me as an an amazing support and friend as I became an adult and then father. I could go on and on and list his good qualities and abilities, but I don't have to....The Lord knows...and that's enough. But I will say this...the man has taught me so much. Most of what I know and who I am is rooted in the talents and abilities that The Lord entrusted to my father who took the time to teach and show me. Score another one for generational blessing.
He's "retired" by social security standards, but the guy still works like a dog. In addition to the myriad of project he undertakes on our homestead, he also is the care giver to my elderly grandmother (his mom) who came to live with him and my mom about a year ago. I wanted to just take a minute and show off a few of the projects that The Old Toe has been throwing down around the yard:


Additional gardens in the back. last year, our main garden area looked like this:



There's two new long gardens to the right of the main garden. We're throwing down mad crops this year. Next....


The refurbished dock that I talked about in the last post. We've already spent more time on the dock this Spring than we did all of last year.


New waterfront gardens. Onions on the left, strawberries on the right. These were put in late last season. Now...for this year's Piece de resistance:




The fabrication of our new pumpkin patch. The Old Boy put this together this afternoon...these photos were taken a few hours ago. He really outdid himself. I can't wait to see this area full of green tendrils and orange pumpkins....I think we're going to have to put together a scarecrow in the Fall to stick in the middle.

I also wanted to document the progress with our homeschool room. It's not finished yet, but coming along nicely. I'm finishing the floor next week, then just a bit of buttoning up before we start moving furniture in.

Before:


After:


Before:


After:



Thanks, Dad...for all you are and all you do. Thank you for loving The Lord and loving your family so beautifully and sacrificially.

Now, I'd be remissed if I didn't also take a quick moment and mention that...as you well know...usually...behind every good man there is a good woman...and that age-old sentiment rings true in my family.


That there's my moms. A gentle, quiet soul who loves The Lord so much. She provides such a beautiful, calming stability to our family. She keeps us grounded, loved, and bathed in prayer...and she makes the best peanut blossom Christmas cookies you'll ever eat. I love you too, mom.

Praise God. Thank you.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Fair-weather Festivities Featuring First Fish

The first stellar weather weekend of the year. 63 fantastic degrees with just enough breeze to ring the chimes and just enough clouds to make you appreciate the sun. Everyone and their mom in Southern New England did work in the yard this weekend and we were no exception.

We got a bunch of stuff accomplished (still lots to do)...the biggest of which was to anchor and re-top our dock. Previously, our dock was attached at the shoreline and floated with the help of huge Styrofoam blocks. Now, it's secured with 4x4's dug down into the lake floor (special props to my dad, "The Toe" for spending 2+ hours waist-deep in the frigid April water while we got things level). Gavin thought it would be a good idea to go swimming....so we let him....his adventure invariably ended about 2.6seconds later in tears and goosebumps. We also replaced the old wooden decking (also known around here as "Splinter Central") with some composite decking....no more splinters.....ever. Despite the fact that I'm a ninja with a pair of tweezers...I'm grateful that the splinter ratio is going to drop dramatically around here this Spring/Summer.

Which brings me to our epic moment of the weekend. Gavin caught his first fish today. Now, before I show you a picture of this lunker....a bit of a back story:

As you know...I grew up on this water...I know every stellar fishing spot, every shallow spot, every sand bar, every dead spot. As a kid, I fished this water almost every day that there wasn't ice covering the surface of it. Bass, calico's, horned pout, yellow perch, white perch, pickerel, blue gills, sunnies, carp...I have literally pulled hundreds, if not thousands of fish out of this lake in my lifetime. In 1992, I moved away. In 2001, I moved back. But I didn't fish. At all. I'm not quite sure why.

I know that at some point I went through a "fishing is cruel" phase. I'm not sure what prompted it, but my general attitude was that I was deriving entertainment by causing physical and mental anguish to another living thing. Now...if I were fishing to feed my family, that would be one thing, but I was a catch-and-release guy all those years. I read journal articles and test results with titles like "Do fish feel pain?"...on both sides of the argument. Fishing became something that I just didn't do anymore. Until today.

Earlier this year, I looked at my son...here's a boy, a country boy...a mud-loving, dirt-eating, frog-in-his-pocket country boy. Country boys need to know how to fish....both on general principle and because there may be a point in time that he may need that skill to provide food for his family. He's 4 years old....it was time.

We were given a rod and reel from a family friend....I took off the reel and attached a 5 foot length of fishing line to the end of the rod...kind of like a bamboo pole...Huck Finn-style. We dug up a few juicy night crawlers from the garden, baited our hook, dropped that baby off the dock and within seconds....BAM:



Gavin's first fish. Now...don't under-estimate this lunker...he was a fighter....4 inches of fin-waving fury!!

We caught 5 or 6 in all today...all blue gills:






Ivy told us that she wanted to give the fish a kiss....this is as close as she was willing to get:


I still haven't come to a conclusion as to whether catch-and-release fishing is cool or cruel....but with the kids...it sure was fun. Suffice it to say that we rocked the new dock in style this weekend and had a blast outside enjoying God's wonderful creations.

Hope that you and yours had some outside fun this weekend as well.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

The Shift

Well...Winter hung on as long as it could..it had dug it's claws in deep this year...it dropped an all time top ten snowfall on us this year...Including 4 sloppy inches in April....but....that was the death rattle. Winter conceded. The Shift is on. Winter is OVER. Springtime has officially arrived in Southern MA...here's how I know:

I took the wood bin out of the house today. Burning season is over. Gavin and I cleaned out the stove and adorned the stove area with potted plants.

There isn't a speck of ice left out on the pond....only smooth sailing.

We spotted goldfinches at the feeder and tree swallows out near the pond....Orioles should be on their way soon.

The great blue heron has made a return to our pond (two of them, actually).

Tonight, we heard peepers for the first time.

Gavin and Grandpa planted onions today...the garden is officially "On".

Ivy "Garlic Breath" Leo has dipped into the garlic chives (she's addicted, I swear).

crocuses are in bloom in the front yard.

Geese and ducks are pairing off....won't be too long until we see chicks.


What an exciting time of year this is.....so much newness....hope....growth.....I'm always amazed at how Winter starts off so magical and ends so stagnant. To see these signs of Spring....what a gift.

Gotta run....gonna research what carrots I want to put in this year.

Happy planting, gardening, fishing, hunting, boating, hiking, laughing, loving, familying, growing, sandboxing, pruning, canoeing, swinging, raking, dethatching, rototilling, composting, bird-watching, frog catching everybody....Spring Is Here!!!!

Here's my 2011 Springtime song:



Raise a glass to the turning of the seasons.

Enjoy the shift.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Caulculated Risks and Daredevil Dives

We take calculated risks all the time. It's an essence of our everyday lives.
Every decision we make....usually involves some element of this.
A calculated risk is where you weigh the consequences of your decisions before you make them. Is the juice worth the squeeze? Sometimes this takes years to come to a decision on...other times it happens in a split second. You play situations out in your head to come to anticipated conclusions before they are a reality.....then you decide if it's in the best interest of your ultimate goal....you either go for it or sack it.

This happens everyday on a thousand different levels...you take a calculated risk when you decide to cut a bagel in half or when you merge out into traffic or decide to accept a mortgage rate on a home. It happens when you decide to do something as simple as shave or pass someone on the highway. Our minds are geared to constantly weigh variables and predetermine outcomes. Here's what I was faced with today...

"Daddy...can I jump off the dresser onto the big bed?"

In an instant I was faced with a myriad of situations, equations, scenarios....is this in the best interest of the development and well being of my child? Should I, as the voice of reason, encourage this or deter this? How far is the nearest Emergency Room? Could he bite through his tongue if he falls hard enough? all this goes through my head....then the ultimate decision gets made....fairly astute kid.....huge King sized bed/landing area....hospital not TOO far away....

..."Go for it"....

Once the risks were calculated and the decisions were made...here's what played out...

the "Dresser Daredevil Dive"....






After several solo successes...we recalculated and decided that he'd have no problem clearing his sister.....enter "The Girl"...



Money.


Our society progresses when we make calculations and take well thought out risks....There's a huge difference between being "safe" and being "sheltered"....

...Calculate, Weigh it out, and Go For It.