Sweet Dreams!

There's a full moon tonight and Miss Belle is sleeping in her very own bed in her very own room. It's the start of something new. Her two front teeth are loose (very) and she's about to be 7. She is really getting to be a Big Girl! I'm very proud and happy that she chose to start this transition tonight.



Edited to Add: It's a BLUE MOON tonight.

avocado forest dancing in the rain

i really created this outfit. it took some snips on the bottom, and snip off the zipper and waist part. i was making it with an old skirt of my moms. it already was getting torn. but if you keep it you know you cam make something. this avocado forest cloak was pretty comfy. it keeps you warm. i was watching TV with my mom and i was wearing it. you should try it sometime, if only i had a bigger one. i bet we have some more.... anyway, i have some pictures of it, it quite simple really to make one.

These are the times that will make such fond memories.

When you're into rescuing animals, you don't always get the cute, cuddly ones. Ed's family is planning to move, so yesterday was the day that they had planned to drop ol' Ed off at the pound. With my approval of course, he was dropped off here instead. He brought his industrial-sized litterbox, litter, food, etc. Easiest rescue ever. He didn't care for the car trip, so I made him comfortable in the bathroom where he could be by himself and kinda GET OVER IT and maybe revert back to a sweet, lovable kitty. Yeah, right. That was yesterday. He's still in the bathroom -- seems to have taken up residence between the toilet and the wall. Anabelle has posted warnings on the bathroom door:



Starting with the one on top and traveling clockwise, these signs say:

Better watch out!
If he's eating, get bitten!
(drawing of cat with obvious fangs) and "hisssssss" written by the mouth
Go away! Or get bitten.
Beware! Bad cat inside.

He is pretty bad. I'm still giving him the benefit of a doubt. He's about 6 years old and his whole world turned upside down yesterday. He's a little disgruntled and he's telling us about it. Always in the back of my mind is the question: Is this how he's ALWAYS going to act with new people? Because if so, it's going to be virtually impossible to find him a home. He can't just take his bad attitude outside because his front paws are declawed. I have hope for him, though. One thing about Ed ... he's a BEHEMOTH. Ed is a big, big boy. We tried to weigh him yesterday and it's somewhere between 21 and 22 pounds. More to love, right? If he'll ever allow it. Here he is in his Safe Spot:



He's a very handsome guy -- just has some poor social skills. Will update.

It's so much a part of our culture ...

... that no one seems to question these things anymore. I'm wondering why I noticed and also wondering if that makes me too sensitive. Hmm... Perhaps the sensitivity is a by-product of being informed. Anyway, Lake Cities Libraries are having some absolutely AWESOME summer reading program activities EVER. A couple of weeks ago, we went to the kickoff, which was Tipi Tellers. We got to sit in the tipi, listen to stories, hear about customs, AND the library gave out free dreamcatchers, keychains, etc. etc. Waaaaaay cool. But that's not what my story's about.

Today my story is about the program we attended this morning called Mobile Dairy Classroom - All about real cows, dairy farming, milking and the processing of dairy products. All ages.

Okay, it was a really great program. The speaker was excellent. The cow in the back of the demonstration truck looked almost blissful. We were all there to learn about cows and dairy farming. And milking -- that's always fun. Uh ... and the processing of dairy products.

This is an aside -- When we went to Rehoboth Ranch a month or so ago, we also learned about the processing of dairy products. But it was an organic farm. And dairy goats. And they showed us on a picnic table under a tree how to make cheese with raw goatmilk. And they had samples. It was pineapple cheese on cinnamon raisin bread. Yummy. She had planned to make a different cheese, but when she realized they only had the cinnamon bread, she made an impromtu decision to switch to pineapple. It was delish. Truly. And she didn't have to run out for supplies, either. Everything she needed was right there on that picnic table.

Back to my story. After awhile, after standing in front of that truck and letting the man's talk wash over me, I started to wake up a little. Hold it! This was more than just cows and good times. This was the Dairy Is Good Show. We were talking about how if cow's milk can raise a tiny calf to be a big strong cow, just think what that milk can do for you!!! So I glaze over the fancy lettering on the back of the white truck. Seems I'm being educated and entertained by Southwest Dairy Farmers. Wow! Suddenly I realize this is more than just a guy from down on the farm. This guy is totally selling dairy and dairy products to little kids who came to see the cow. By the way, with their usual exuberance and courtesy, the library ladies handed out free cow suncatcher keychains for the children to paint. Cool! We're racking up all kinds of neat things for reading and going to summer reading programs.

So we got in my car and mi compañero constante asked me what I thought of the show. And we talked about it. I really wanted to be brimming over with fun recaps of what we'd learned, but it wasn't necessarily bona fide wholesale accurate information. It was information from only one side of a complicated story. Yes, he did mention that they keep the cow pregnant so she will continue producing milk. He didn't mention the part about how they take the calf away as soon as it's born, or what might happen to the calf.

As if my mind wasn't already overboggled by realization of my crunchiness vs. the thought that SURELY I wasn't the only doubter in the crowd, he made a comment that was prefaced with something to the effect that it's "something we all know" about how when a baby drinks formula, they're getting the same vitamins and minerals that milk will give them when they are old enough to make the switch. Well, I know that there are many perfectly valid and "acceptable" reasons why a mother would choose to use formula. One of them being that sometimes it's not even a choice. But anyway, there are requirements in place by the World Health Assembly that prohibit the advertising of ... well, UNICEF says it like this:

"Marketing practices that undermine breastfeeding are potentially hazardous wherever they are pursued: in the developing world, WHO estimates that some 1.5 million children die each year because they are not adequately breastfed. These facts are not in dispute."

OH! And another thing he said. Of course, as happy and content as this cow is, she might sometimes get sick. And if she's sick, her sickness might get into the milk. So you can give her a shot of antibiotics and make her well so the milk is good. I'm shaking my head here. I'm starting to groan. He's right! By golly, we want that cow to feel better right away and we want good milk. He left out the part about how those antibiotics are being transferred into the humans who are drinking the milk creating antibiotic resistant strains of human pathogens. That part's not so good.

Part of our observation as unschoolers is that much children's television programming involves commercial breaks. And it's been a very hard concept to realize that there are companies who will make their product look like it's the very best thing in the world, not because IT IS, but because THEY WANT US TO BUY IT. It's truly a tough concept. Even for me sometimes. But these guys are upfront at Southwest Dairy Farmers. They tell you right away:

The Southwest Dairy Farmers is an alliance of dairy farmers from Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. These producers have pooled their resources to provide consumer education in nutrition, to promote dairy product use, and provide dairy product information. [The highlighting is mine.]

Really, milk and cookies are as down home as "Leave It To Beaver." The population, the larger part of the population, doesn't seem to question where their milk is coming from. They think the only thing in their milk is ... milk. Sometimes I wish I could be like that. Here's how easy it would be -- The told us all that "You know those flat little slices of cheese?" [lots of nodding heads and raised hands] "That's one serving." He held up a little carton of "school milk" and described that as another serving. And then "those little plastic yogurt containers" can make your third serving. And that's all you need to be healthy. The food pyramid used to be so simple. The food GROUPS used to be so simple. Not anymore. Not if it inspires this much internal debate.

And speaking of the World Health Assembly, International Nestle Free Week will be July 2-8, 2007.

I was just thinking about how it seems that the acceptance of dairy products as necessary for health is largely remaining unquestioned. It's become our culture.

Women in Art

Thanks to Kristen for sharing!

Look what someone dumped on the road by the creek.

Tiny. Very, very tiny.

another idea

We also had a new idea for a journal we want to keep. This is a note for me to remember tomorrow. :)

Now THAT'S tired.

Belle and I went swimming at the lake tonight. She did, I just waded around. But she met two new friends. I'm on my way to bed, but wanted to post what Ben just told me. I told him that Belle was so tired her legs were hurting. He said she told him that the lights had gone out in her legs. In the shower, she told me she thought her legs had already gone to sleep. Lights out is REALLY asleep. Now I'm going to bed.

I loved that movie. Really. Loved it.

I thought it was awesome that *** ******* won. And that he didn't even know he won. It really, REALLY spoke to the idea that the object of ANY game is to have FUN! And I love the idea of being inside, riding the tube ... I would see this movie even if I wasn't taking my child. It's a good one.

*** logged back in and edited for spoilers.

The snakes are alive and WELL.

When we were preparing the gardens over a month ago, we found these snakes. We found them in separate places at separate times, so not sure if they're related or not. Either way, they are thriving in the habitat we put together for them and today we had a little surprise.

First of all, their habitat is an aquarium on the back porch. Since both of them (as well as many others) were found in the compost, we can assume they enjoy compost. And the bugs that like the compost! Anyway, we have a layer of soil in the aquarium, which we follow with a fresh layer of compost about every week. A little over a week ago, we put two pieces of bark in the tank for them to hide under. They immediately wriggled their separate ways under the two pieces of bark. Today Anabelle wanted to hold them for awhile, so I lifted one of the bark pieces and they were BOTH snuggled up underneath. Snakes in love!

Storm Approaching

We went to the beach on Monday. After an hour, we could hear thunder all around, and this was the view from our blanket. We loaded our stuff and got ourselves home before the storm hit. It was a BIGGIE, but only lasted about 30 minutes. This has been the strangest season ... rain, rain, and more rain. Big storms and flooding. The newspapers have announced that the North Texas drought is finally OVER. I know I'll be wishing for this rain to come back in a month or so, but right now, I just wish we could plan an outdoor day without worrying about THIS.

She's been thinking about it ...

We were very upset about the birds this morning, but neither one of us really had a lot to say about it. This afternoon, we went to the lake for awhile and then came home because of yet another thunderstorm. Anyway ... Belle was taking a shower and called out to me that her "friend" (a girl she met at the beach) told her an eagle might've gotten the baby birds. I told her I don't think we have eagles around her, but perhaps she meant "hawk." And I told her that I have seen a hawk on top of the utility pole in front of our house. Just once. But no eagles, not in this part of the country. And I haven't seen any owls, but I told her the girl might've meant "owl." Belle believes it was "hawk." I told her it could've been a squirrel or a cat. There are really lots of possibilities. We just KNOW it wasn't RayRay, because he was in the house. Like the best boy he is. The nest had already been decimated by the time Ben left for work, so it was during the night or the very early morning.

Finally, she asked me, "Would a hawk eat a pinky?" I said, "Yes, probably." And she summarized that because she had seen the pinkies that Christopher used to feed his snake, and she knows what a pinky looks like, maybe the hawk thought the baby birds were big pinkies. I argued, "But pinkies aren't that big," and she replied, "I said the hawk might've thought they were BIG pinkies. Yeah, she did say that. She's really been thinking about this!

DISASTER! Nature can be cruel.

The nest is empty. Maybe you can tell from the pics that the tall shrub is directly in front of a brick fence. It appears that something probably got on the fence and came down on top of the nest, breaking off some of the branches that helped support it. Although heavily damaged, the nest stayed, but the babies were probably dumped out on the ground. And we can't find them anywhere. Great sadness. The mother and father are still there, hopping around in the trees just above the nest location. Notice how there was a paper towel in the inner structure of the nest -- that probably came from the compost pile. I wonder if the babies had started making enough noise to attract predators. The fence made it easy for an ambush. If you look just below the nest, you can see where one of the branches broke.

Good Dog, Dovey!

I was in the kitchen putting dinner together and Lovey Dovey snuck in behind Ben when he came back in from the yard through the kitchen door. But she was feeling guilty about it, so she just stood at the edge of the kitchen. When I acknowledged her presence by saying, "Hi Dovey!" instead of "Out!" she stretched her front legs and went to the living room to lie down. She's a good dog.

Eyes are open and they're huuuuungry!!!

The mother was close by and she was doing that constant short sharp chirp that she does that told the father something was up. So he came down and really let me have it. He made the same cheeping noise, but paced back and forth along the fence just a foot away from where I was standing, occasionally shaking his feathers at me. Here's the proud papa:

Our Own LOL Cat

Miss Belle decided on the caption.

This is fun: LolCat Builder

Belle insisted that I submit the above to I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER. This is pop culture, folks. BTW, not all of the ICHC site is g-rated, so you might want to look at the pics ahead of time to see what's funny and appropriate.

One-of-a-Kind One Love

This is the Rastafairy (at least that's what I think of when I see her) that Christine painted on the new wooden seats for Anabelle's hand-me-down swingset that Michael and Katherine used to play on. Does all that make sense? It's an awesome swingset and it's the custom personalized swings that make it the best.

Looks like a good place to be.

Anabelle has been talking, talking, talking to her daddy. Telling jokes, hanging on the trapeze bar, and talking some more. I just noticed how it looks like a little oasis out there -- observe how Lovey Dovey is staying close to Ben.



Sometime or another, one of us is going to need to go back and post some of the Dog Days pics -- CUTE!! Belle and Jolene were the first entrants in the trick contest. They both gave an outstanding performance!

Saturday Bird Update

Aside from dropping in occasionally, the mother doesn't seem to be staying on the nest very much. Perhaps she nests all night, though. When taking these photos, I don't focus or anything (as you can tell) -- I just hold the camera at an angle above the nest and then snap. I just love what I can do with my camera.



The wings aren't tucked closely under the body anymore and the fluff is turning to obvious feathers.



But at the amazing little back ... You can see the four rounded "shoulders" on either end of the delicate spine ... You can even still see the veins running beneath the transparent skin.

dog days

today was dog days and guess what? IT WAS ABSULOTLY FUN!!!!! we got a glamfur shot of buteful joline! bounce house! jolines forchene! clifford! no, really CLIFFORD!!!! thogh we got all sweaty..... but it was sooooooo much fun!

Summer Reading!

Not quite sure what the difference is between summer reading and reading all the rest of the year (except maybe reading on the beach!) but we're all excited about the PROGRAMS! Yesterday, Belle and I BOTH signed up for the summer reading program at our local library. There was a kickoff and Captain Readbeard was there to tell us about his favorite pirate books. The very first book of the summer reading program was ... Don't Mention Pirates ... Miss Belle and I are going to post our reads all summer long. Somewhere on the sidebar. It's a work in progress.

Belle is also signing up for Scholastic's Summer Reading Buzz. Details: Every book you read and log feeds the Reader Meter. For every 4 books you log, Scholastic will donate 1 book to Reading is Fundamental. And because one link leads to another, be sure to check out the RIF Reading Planet.

FATHER AND MOTHER EARTH AND THER BABY, BABY EARTH

I am anabelle athor of this story of father earth and mother earth and there baby, baby earth wich we live on. And if anybody in the whole world has moved, half of father earth is lost. Mother earth has half lost if somebody on her side moves to father earths side. Father earth gets the half that mother earth has lost. If father earth loses that person he loses a half of him. Mother earth gets his half he has lost. And the person has no idea that father earth is loseing a part of himself. And no idea mother earth is loseing a part of herself. As the person moves more and more pieces fall of mother earth and father earth. The earth never losesa part of itself. It cannot stop the person from moveing. Baby earth is always one pice and never loses a part of itself. Nobody knows if baby earth is a girl or boy.mostly Everybody thinks it is a girl. I most think it is a boy becase of the buleness.i hope most people are right about every guess. I most think it can be proved boy. Lovely afternoons are made out of stardust light and beautiful sunlight. Mother earth produces this lovely stardust light and beautiful sunlight. Becase father earth produces the gloomynees on raniy evenings. And also produces all night darkness and anything unpleasant about the earth. Heavy rains and then mother earth will come along from the sunlight supermarket in the souler sytem. On sunny days father earth will be at work. He brings dark candy to mother earth and lovely purple candy to baby earth cause baby earth is much too young for dark candy. Whats the age of mother earth and father earth? No one knows. Mother earth also helps mother nachere to build strong ang grow. Mother nachere Is mother earths 2nd child.

MOTHER EARTHS HELP OF FOOD

Have you ever wonderd “ how was half of the food I couldn’t produce?” well for instinse, you can have a trip in a FARM GRDEN it has lots of tasty fruits an veggies. Sometimes mother earth can make these tiny things that grow plants. These are calld seeds and many people use them in their garden, for exsaple, green beans, canalope, cucober, and so on. Sometimes the corn is farmed by farmers.

HOW SHE AND HE WAS BORN

No one knows. Thogh they did appear when the soulr system was born. And then they took care of earth.since of there names….. they named there planet earth after there last names…..also a great idea from the sun….. the sun helped everyone grow

HOW EVERYONE GREW OLDER AND YOUNG

Not everyone grew here in the soulor system. Mostly it was mother earth and father earth who were growing since the had parenthood….. but the sun! useful grouth! Baby earth was growing just becase she was near the lovely growing method. But so many planets stayed babies, yet Pluto is one of them. Every planet must be far far away from the sun
If its still a baby,