tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34464035524956577792024-03-05T01:07:42.945-08:00McCool's Dusty AcresJeremy and Heather McCoolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04325315894034196381noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446403552495657779.post-11093315944223670352012-03-15T12:23:00.000-07:002012-03-15T12:23:26.914-07:00Rethinking ThingsI have a few seeds for my garden, and a few little shovels and things for gardening.<br />
I have the perfect place for chickens.<br />
I like to day dream about a donkey meeting me outside and the kids riding him around.<br />
<br />
<br />
But, I don't water plants. I have trouble remembering to feed the dog. And I'm thinking I'll put the breaks on these things for this year. <br />
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I do paint though, and I'm doing more of that.<br />
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Like this:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8400oPemknLjJbLzmey3Hsw-vFKeHON_4JRIETIlwmPfg9PpAgKCGozcb0S5ps7h2WhFuNtn8AQnT3C_Y7bZ8vgMxAFTpbZn9Nm3gk7l9pphcIMESpw4KWeLn_t6MptwA4oGnPcw_GO2x/s1600/IMG_0565.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8400oPemknLjJbLzmey3Hsw-vFKeHON_4JRIETIlwmPfg9PpAgKCGozcb0S5ps7h2WhFuNtn8AQnT3C_Y7bZ8vgMxAFTpbZn9Nm3gk7l9pphcIMESpw4KWeLn_t6MptwA4oGnPcw_GO2x/s320/IMG_0565.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
and this:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCVoiAbdV85pF0kHF2OqrkaIA7CxJmKtFj8RiRQGWWJ1a6gGuHWZF3JPKkESLoUNI5zYFngGOESjqGd8HwZI_If56pZxqnzhQl1orv5UVcPR-84r1V-Jn29hOQGqQbzfGjq-4fikN-dMXr/s1600/IMG_0595.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCVoiAbdV85pF0kHF2OqrkaIA7CxJmKtFj8RiRQGWWJ1a6gGuHWZF3JPKkESLoUNI5zYFngGOESjqGd8HwZI_If56pZxqnzhQl1orv5UVcPR-84r1V-Jn29hOQGqQbzfGjq-4fikN-dMXr/s320/IMG_0595.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There are more, I just don't have pictures of them at the moment. There is one in the works and more in my head and I'm thinking that for now, this blog will be cooking adventures, painting experiments and photos of falling in love with the desert. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I'm just not to the point of being able to parent three little people, keep up the house, the cooking, the marriage, friendships, etc AND doing things that are actually really hard to be diligent about. Cooking and painting are a joy so, here is where they will be. Here's to accepting ourselves as we are and not as who we will be, one day.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div>Jeremy and Heather McCoolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04325315894034196381noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446403552495657779.post-49633135795349801732012-03-01T17:02:00.000-08:002012-03-01T17:02:58.445-08:00Purple Sauerkraut<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNkzF_Q3CRXM5pt7R79WnyQNi7KVwC_UHjEwwMn5dcdOy02qY9ZfRz-fc3AOuJCCwcQAkdZ8g60JL0jYhNkY6cW7snl6JoubVDTZMq1gybduzxvBEwRYYvyqkaFPwQ0AJzcFovipnaZeU/s1600/IMG_0523.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNkzF_Q3CRXM5pt7R79WnyQNi7KVwC_UHjEwwMn5dcdOy02qY9ZfRz-fc3AOuJCCwcQAkdZ8g60JL0jYhNkY6cW7snl6JoubVDTZMq1gybduzxvBEwRYYvyqkaFPwQ0AJzcFovipnaZeU/s320/IMG_0523.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The ingredients.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieoKtD7DV9vEcT4vytG7yKqrFiXjMP-3E86Sb3yKTwOGo0F9zxnQHkRJ0Tyv66bVdeHDs23w3RPXpGwGhdR0M6DlqDhFUYOCQiayHszMfC6P0WlxIJX9usJt8BYVuCnfwzgqgsr3WifH8/s1600/IMG_0526.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieoKtD7DV9vEcT4vytG7yKqrFiXjMP-3E86Sb3yKTwOGo0F9zxnQHkRJ0Tyv66bVdeHDs23w3RPXpGwGhdR0M6DlqDhFUYOCQiayHszMfC6P0WlxIJX9usJt8BYVuCnfwzgqgsr3WifH8/s320/IMG_0526.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I hope the color doesn't change over the 6 weeks!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
In 6 weeks I'll be eating all this within about 24 hours, that is the way of sauerkraut in my clutches. And if all goes well, I'll be making much more! Maybe when I realize that I can have it at every meal I wont be totally addicted to it until it's gone. Side note: sauerkraut has is supposedly a very low GI food and is said to be a 'free food' for those living the low-GI life! <br />
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<span id="goog_408514825"></span><span id="goog_408514826"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446403552495657779.post-91491592046237061662012-03-01T11:43:00.000-08:002012-03-01T11:43:16.446-08:00OutsourcingI have come to see the word outsourcing as some what of a dirty word. It's the reason I can't understand or be understood when I call my bank. It's the reason our country has political ties with little, war torn countries that lead to things like war, and dead soldiers. It's one of the reasons our country has a very rapidly declining amount of blue collar jobs. It's one of the reasons the blue collar jobs we have wont pay anyone's bills.<br />
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When we lived in an apartment, I was mad that we had to outsource everything. From playgrounds to tomatoes, lawn care to clothes drying(energy). And when I longed for a house, I longed for a place to outsource less. Grow our own, wash and dry our own, make our own, entertain on our own... But I wasn't raised that way. At all.<br />
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I'm finding that it's a lot of work. Which isn't bad, but it's tricky trying to juggle all of our time consuming responsibilities and taking up new ones. Even the simple ones, like home cooked meals, tinkering with leaky van parts and enjoying our own sunshine. <br />
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In fact, I've lost sight of it. I've read so many opinions about being self-sustained so we're ready for nuclear war or whatever other tragedy attacks our new frontier. But I've never wanted to do things myself out of fear. If I was fear driven I'd be a working mom bringing in as much money as I could - in other words, I'd go back to what I know: money and depending on it's security.<br />
<br />
But I read a little list not too long ago about all the things we, as a culture, outsource that people didn't a hundred years ago or so. This list included food production, clothing production, child rearing, child schooling, entertainment and a bunch of other really huge things. <br />
<br />
Yesterday I was looking at my roasted barley coffee substitute for $6.99 a box and the pearled barley sitting on the counter and thought, this box says there are a just a few grains in this, roasted, ground and packaged. I wonder if I could do that. So I looked up coffee roasting on the internet. Turns out, a hundred years ago, most everyone did their own coffee roasting and bought the raw beans (with a shelf life of 2 years) instead of the roasted beans (with a shelf life of two weeks). This was normal, people still had time to wash clothes by hand and talk to each other. In fact, it seems they talked more than we do now.<br />
<br />
Today I deleted my facebook account so I'm no longer outsourcing friendship and I'm remembering why I'm here. I didn't want to outsource my kids or my vegetables and I wanted to relearn that the best way to get to know someone, including family, is to work along beside them.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446403552495657779.post-61404713070208873052012-02-28T07:32:00.000-08:002012-02-28T07:32:39.768-08:00When Will Spring Be Here?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKWjxifig8DglaPSMUsKjQkV0xQ5Ys0I73VQtAUH225t4DCRROcutQOm2gsBCKqXyffl7oKGlrpnUg5kNyhqtx9IbDRAEQjBBz-UULr1UzD732J7WUW2Bl17C0YDuONxGaJmFSYWkXD-Q/s1600/IMG_0507.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKWjxifig8DglaPSMUsKjQkV0xQ5Ys0I73VQtAUH225t4DCRROcutQOm2gsBCKqXyffl7oKGlrpnUg5kNyhqtx9IbDRAEQjBBz-UULr1UzD732J7WUW2Bl17C0YDuONxGaJmFSYWkXD-Q/s400/IMG_0507.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446403552495657779.post-23668308270517979692012-02-27T10:49:00.000-08:002012-02-27T10:49:21.012-08:00Sourdough Starter<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsxKyZJaWWA-_tP8lCLMen8stcURjAftFn4WfE6QpQzOBQFPxqXL3dHsTfNVEQ_4MuKkgX43yv1aIGxCp6mfB9U58o-ZeUVShSkOapeEaCvSl5AEajJ3CnmLzNTbLsGUdxDBK0JjuP9vg/s1600/IMG_0483.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsxKyZJaWWA-_tP8lCLMen8stcURjAftFn4WfE6QpQzOBQFPxqXL3dHsTfNVEQ_4MuKkgX43yv1aIGxCp6mfB9U58o-ZeUVShSkOapeEaCvSl5AEajJ3CnmLzNTbLsGUdxDBK0JjuP9vg/s400/IMG_0483.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See the bubbles?</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
This beautiful little mother was made of some flour, some water and a little bit of dry yeast. Exactly those measurements. She's bubbling away and I'm hoping to not only use her often, but not have to ever toss her out and start again... like I have in the past.<br />
<br />
You'll be happy to know that sourdough bread (when made with 100% wheat flour) is a higher protein food than the fresh yeast breads of the same make and model.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446403552495657779.post-14934847443353434322012-02-22T15:46:00.000-08:002012-02-22T15:46:40.776-08:00A Foot In the DoorJust put in a little order for some heirloom barley and shell beans and threw in a packet of southwest wildflowers.<br />
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I'm getting really excited about Barley, as it is has the lowest glycemic index of any grain ever tested. I fell in love with the story of <a href="http://sustainableseedco.com/Burbank-Hulless-Barley.html">this particular barley strain</a> and that it was created (and expects to grow well) here in southern California. I'm planning on doing a lot of experiments with barley and low-glycemic recipes as well as figuring out how to get from a packet of seeds to a loaf of bread.<br />
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We've also decided to post some of our favorite low-glycemic recipes here on the site, so look out for that as well!<br />
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My mom also stopped by this morning with a horse trailer full of goods. Pallets and branches for heating the house, some fun old pieces of tack, a whole box full of used and rusted horseshoes and some other random bits of rusted junk. We now have plenty of fodder for our store, we just have to get working on it.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446403552495657779.post-78170111681832776882012-02-03T14:24:00.000-08:002012-02-01T20:51:20.383-08:00How I Am Making GravelWhen we bought this house, it came with large piles of dirt. The outer piles had been formed into a dirt bike riding course, with a really nice curve and some jumps, like 8 steep little hills with a curve in the middle. And since we purchased the property we have wondered, what will we do with those hills?<br />
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Well, the first thing we did was introduce them to the kids as 'the mountains'. These hills are the kids' favorite thing to play with in our yard. <br />
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A few weeks ago I decided that the area right outside our front door was destined to be a wildflower garden. But, it was to have walkways lined with rocks and little pockets of flowers also surrounded with rocks. Gravel would be perfect for the space between flowers, but where to get it? Any amount of money was too much for this project. <br />
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Then, I saw these:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg51tbGHUE3nOLy6-Qhm0mLdB3k0oI_ElcfAOD5kQsenGPFs0XUY-q19w58mf_VlKU3_3wZ0tOpRKgLa0fCvdXLvkXax3_cZGskimBpWmc_qVz92WTE2mmtolCkTCqkT7acVEMpW9GeMmw/s1600/IMG_0169.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg51tbGHUE3nOLy6-Qhm0mLdB3k0oI_ElcfAOD5kQsenGPFs0XUY-q19w58mf_VlKU3_3wZ0tOpRKgLa0fCvdXLvkXax3_cZGskimBpWmc_qVz92WTE2mmtolCkTCqkT7acVEMpW9GeMmw/s320/IMG_0169.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'The mountains' otherwise known as - 'random piles of dirt'.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
And I thought, the soil is pretty course, I bet I could make some gravel and then well, if I wanted the whole two acres covered in plastic with a layer of gravel on top to deter weeds, well I'm half way there! Over the course of a few days, my plan involved the metal window screens that came with the house. Or rather, on the house. But seeing as we have a ton of windows and about 5 screens, we will need to re-screen most of the house anyways and if one old metal screen gets injured in the making of gravel, it's a small price to pay.<br />
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So I took two patio chairs, my old screen and set to work!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqEtO2qoqFEGJebo5CN3TlEe2EF4ArDBYluI_3G8zhLAMrrK-y0cB1YVf0jpBc8Eh3BHW3B3Gwg5KGkj7dYXQbD9T-j1sSjN80JuBFhEYiQWx6YQ4ERGNi5vXAU8BCUaM3ThZzp-mifBE/s1600/IMG_0164.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqEtO2qoqFEGJebo5CN3TlEe2EF4ArDBYluI_3G8zhLAMrrK-y0cB1YVf0jpBc8Eh3BHW3B3Gwg5KGkj7dYXQbD9T-j1sSjN80JuBFhEYiQWx6YQ4ERGNi5vXAU8BCUaM3ThZzp-mifBE/s320/IMG_0164.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The set up.</td></tr>
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How it works: shovel dirt on top of screen, move it all around until dust and debris stop falling out the bottom. Move remaining bits (gravel) to bucket. Take bucket, pour in desired spot. Return. Repeat.<br />
<div><br />
</div><div>So I got a few buckets full after sifting. Here is the result:</div><div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj90kfy29tf7JRR4VMCW-LHhf4KZkqlWnEtyT22UCUJgBIoZTMiEr4X1gX7VVqlnmQgR2XierPxKfbPScT7a3f0Oz0T9fxpXgQlL2LiHnEYIH86UYShg_QqmOXEumaOZWh92-jwjcZVAws/s1600/IMG_0161.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj90kfy29tf7JRR4VMCW-LHhf4KZkqlWnEtyT22UCUJgBIoZTMiEr4X1gX7VVqlnmQgR2XierPxKfbPScT7a3f0Oz0T9fxpXgQlL2LiHnEYIH86UYShg_QqmOXEumaOZWh92-jwjcZVAws/s320/IMG_0161.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not the most uniform, but over some plastic it will definitely keep the weeds away!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Now. There was the stuff that fell out of the bottom and it was beautiful. <br />
<div><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR1j5427F-1YGUZtaKmzMmqpWGjhL7ztEjQN3SiceXuJIzXZy9LF1tCghRkOQUJ0hn5QO3ztjYoSoD4YuQDkTLfcQNH71zPTryuA0BIMuo-Ik3538VhXE4521XtUfEP893DFq9o4LGJD8/s1600/IMG_0162.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR1j5427F-1YGUZtaKmzMmqpWGjhL7ztEjQN3SiceXuJIzXZy9LF1tCghRkOQUJ0hn5QO3ztjYoSoD4YuQDkTLfcQNH71zPTryuA0BIMuo-Ik3538VhXE4521XtUfEP893DFq9o4LGJD8/s320/IMG_0162.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Extremely uniform, wonderful, slightly orange sand.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div><br />
</div><div>I was thinking of all the uses the sand could have and decided that it needed to go on the walk ways through the wildflower garden. When I sift the dirt, I get about half and half. Here are some pictures of the gravel and sand in action.</div><div><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbxwuA_Y17pxGFU8Nbn_6hpcJC69KWXPJWQXvMk7UlpPqehlwVbrCyc8aGlImWVGjpHgDEEsAyXWP8HbtY41aro0j-FdbKTbsjo6Q-ZRDYLzqAmnIqfL7fEE3blY_-keGKQaezMzH3bFc/s1600/IMG_0160.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbxwuA_Y17pxGFU8Nbn_6hpcJC69KWXPJWQXvMk7UlpPqehlwVbrCyc8aGlImWVGjpHgDEEsAyXWP8HbtY41aro0j-FdbKTbsjo6Q-ZRDYLzqAmnIqfL7fEE3blY_-keGKQaezMzH3bFc/s320/IMG_0160.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gravel in action, the stick in that clump of grass there is a rose bush.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtLAdrFOU5YD3K5X-jmDJhXikhfPdFex1-wcsGP60LxWtGLMSBrktwjqS0KT0djrg4IW1tFjTA_61AD-kWSJ566BO0C6-o2XDTbHYuk2x1Mq8g2juEFVtSjv1TvG3xP-yxuygZWdvod2M/s1600/IMG_0159.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtLAdrFOU5YD3K5X-jmDJhXikhfPdFex1-wcsGP60LxWtGLMSBrktwjqS0KT0djrg4IW1tFjTA_61AD-kWSJ566BO0C6-o2XDTbHYuk2x1Mq8g2juEFVtSjv1TvG3xP-yxuygZWdvod2M/s320/IMG_0159.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sand on the walkway.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
I'm really excited to see how it will look when the whole garden has the sand and gravel in the appropriate places. It will be a long time going because two buckets of gravel and two of sand take a totally of about 45 minutes. But I'm out there watching the kids play most days anyways, so it's all good. <br />
<div><br />
</div><div>I can't wait to take my rake and leave wonderful little rake lines down my walk ways with bright bloom wildflowers hanging out the side of their planters... Slow and steady! April looks like it may possibly be a big month here at Dusty Acres, so I'm setting April as my set up goal for the front and back gardens. It's a tall order, but I'm a tall girl...</div><div><br />
</div><div>-Heather<br />
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</div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446403552495657779.post-43909343793589767042012-02-01T08:28:00.000-08:002012-02-01T08:28:26.826-08:00WildflowersOver the last week or so I have been plotting out our front flower garden. In lou of a green lawn that is expensive to upkeep we have opted for a wildflower garden out our front door. My hope is to fill the plots with drought resistant flowers that give us a beautiful show and yet don't require overhead sprinklers twice a day. Honestly, my dream would be to water by hand 2-3 times a week, but I don't think I'm quite savy enough to find plants that fit that model yet.<br />
<br />
Since we live in the desert I have yet to notice a small flowering plant that is native to our area. There are blooms on the yucca and Joshua trees in the spring, and a certain bush I have yet to find the name of, completely covers itself in tiny yellow flowers at the end of summer for one week, and for that week the high desert is a sea of yellow. But nothing dainty and flowering, yet.<br />
<br />
In our front garden I wanted flowers, bright, abundant blooms all throughout the growing season.<br />
<br />
I am using two resources:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://store.theodorepayne.org/">Theodore Payne California Wildflower Foundation</a></div><div style="text-align: center;">and</div><div style="text-align: center;">My Own Experiences</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">So far, I've decided on a packet of California wild flowers that has flowers in it that bloom from early spring to late summer. I've also decided on some of the Black Eyed Susans that sprinkle themselves liberally over the Los Angeles basin in the heat of summer. They are not native, although they have naturalized to Southern California and I have had a love affair with Black Eyed Susans since I was very small. The way they spring up on the side of the freeway in a crack in the pavement, a 2'6" scrubby plant covered in large yellow blooms that hasn't seen rain or even clouds in months. They wave a cheery hello at the motorists as they grumble in smoggy traffic. These girls are still a poem waiting to be written, and I'm more than a little excited to see them swaying in the wind outside my window!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://store.theodorepayne.org/mm5/graphics/00000001/paynemix1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://store.theodorepayne.org/mm5/graphics/00000001/paynemix1.jpg" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Payne's #1: Rainbow Mixture Available <a href="http://store.theodorepayne.org/product/SEED_M/SM_TPM1.html">Here</a>.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.edenbrothers.com/store/media/_Multiple-Images/resized/SFBES17-1_size2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.edenbrothers.com/store/media/_Multiple-Images/resized/SFBES17-1_size2.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Black Eyed Susans in all their glory, Available <a href="http://www.edenbrothers.com/store/Black_Eyed_Susan_Seeds.html">Here</a>.</td></tr>
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</div><div style="text-align: center;">So, we have already turned this: </div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhasAadlyjc7J4Tom6RzwIhe8bGWdaoEOvTZnIk9h2lvrqdpjTW89BI3Asunt1wp7V8M_tNp2gc7TLvel6-JP8SK3HcJ0bca-vulsv9npfBlE5DLTYnJufBgn0uNPtEn24rKz30Qo7QSuA/s1600/house+before.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhasAadlyjc7J4Tom6RzwIhe8bGWdaoEOvTZnIk9h2lvrqdpjTW89BI3Asunt1wp7V8M_tNp2gc7TLvel6-JP8SK3HcJ0bca-vulsv9npfBlE5DLTYnJufBgn0uNPtEn24rKz30Qo7QSuA/s320/house+before.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before we moved in.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;">Into this:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4X3rx1tUq_yNFQ9Pka6bPq3YtFiGkZrOCxvE4nZ0zyRlhEXc5C7yDPJpiDYddc9BOmZeUcSGgIKkSh5wQF8lPtJDiyw-tPo6IQkzrJxUwyPUrrhrT9qrlDvDlwEgfKHdMGh_ECj7PWeM/s1600/IMG_0156.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4X3rx1tUq_yNFQ9Pka6bPq3YtFiGkZrOCxvE4nZ0zyRlhEXc5C7yDPJpiDYddc9BOmZeUcSGgIKkSh5wQF8lPtJDiyw-tPo6IQkzrJxUwyPUrrhrT9qrlDvDlwEgfKHdMGh_ECj7PWeM/s320/IMG_0156.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bright blaring morning sun, but painted the front white, the door red <br />
and added a scrappy little fence.<br />
<br />
</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgESN3it86lBDLvKFRYSfPcjFzLRPMvDGrGk951Op6AlHSQ8aJZI1n3gztpWW_SicOTx2aPel4pcw_rjqdIQIlbHhl67NqAu5NzZIs6wmH-ED1RWk8dVh-CUNPggliPNSeT98qbJgQQ4As/s1600/IMG_0157.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgESN3it86lBDLvKFRYSfPcjFzLRPMvDGrGk951Op6AlHSQ8aJZI1n3gztpWW_SicOTx2aPel4pcw_rjqdIQIlbHhl67NqAu5NzZIs6wmH-ED1RWk8dVh-CUNPggliPNSeT98qbJgQQ4As/s320/IMG_0157.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And some fun little rock paths. </td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">So this is the inbetween period, the period of plotting, rock hauling, gravel making and watering plans. Soon, there will be lots of wild flowers beside those paths! And the scrappy little winter time rose bushes along the house there will be blooming and beautiful. It'll be such a transformation!</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446403552495657779.post-90212634595663647422012-01-30T10:49:00.000-08:002012-01-30T16:19:00.130-08:00A Little WalkA few days ago, we went on a little walk at the edge of our neighborhood. You drive to the end of the paved road, drive past the last house, out onto some government land and over look a valley from the joshua tree littered foothills. It's spectacular at sunset. Here are a few photos.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvlqQOm_sIQFbRzxp47sL78EaVlqQZReY6HiITcCf_pkAVmFFPOBlw-apaQMlKGuY5ynJuR693k_c8H-TkxLor0Q8XHZtdZpgMjoFmSxVrEINmNuu_gkkpmRCWKWj9396nYwWZCOwwM5M/s1600/January+2012+085+watermark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvlqQOm_sIQFbRzxp47sL78EaVlqQZReY6HiITcCf_pkAVmFFPOBlw-apaQMlKGuY5ynJuR693k_c8H-TkxLor0Q8XHZtdZpgMjoFmSxVrEINmNuu_gkkpmRCWKWj9396nYwWZCOwwM5M/s320/January+2012+085+watermark.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A dying yucca in the orange sunset.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY3S7CRGNMDE4tE7hcJMntXwnejjPmFxRNnWZgUgWp1XE46Hn4P0bq_dn3eOwvLLIkw7a4N07YKuDnRdlGiia8OUDeNmOtIuOluXMvZMtihaDYixo4E1ksztlt-Ra1wl8X9ZABEIYAy7Q/s1600/January+2012+070+watermark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY3S7CRGNMDE4tE7hcJMntXwnejjPmFxRNnWZgUgWp1XE46Hn4P0bq_dn3eOwvLLIkw7a4N07YKuDnRdlGiia8OUDeNmOtIuOluXMvZMtihaDYixo4E1ksztlt-Ra1wl8X9ZABEIYAy7Q/s320/January+2012+070+watermark.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There are trails forged all over these desert foothills.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYg8izdz3FMLAN-HymSU1BHJHVCcY6p6SzzgTmIWvWlI05cx0HgK-MKlJQr7xUO-46wWHZ7W1-i25k_9eqoxzw0uooGjRiFHhNg1d2yESpjEjL2XOO_jmsXNI2ghoaX2QhdqAZaTMQ44U/s1600/January+2012+074+watermark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYg8izdz3FMLAN-HymSU1BHJHVCcY6p6SzzgTmIWvWlI05cx0HgK-MKlJQr7xUO-46wWHZ7W1-i25k_9eqoxzw0uooGjRiFHhNg1d2yESpjEjL2XOO_jmsXNI2ghoaX2QhdqAZaTMQ44U/s320/January+2012+074+watermark.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Joshua tree standing in front of foothills along the northeast side of Big Bear Mountain.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEtgpqtvv2a2HDo51PEkEZ1H4Mu66qqMjvwTUBG4UsE1wcFL6Qbp5C0dNhSDlr-4TbHQYyLrNc259p8amQ01nHqX17JmWaEbUhp4ukDpjQ4VYWK0jF7uP_kp3lh-2LyZEKmCn2-wcudPk/s1600/January+2012+084+watermark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEtgpqtvv2a2HDo51PEkEZ1H4Mu66qqMjvwTUBG4UsE1wcFL6Qbp5C0dNhSDlr-4TbHQYyLrNc259p8amQ01nHqX17JmWaEbUhp4ukDpjQ4VYWK0jF7uP_kp3lh-2LyZEKmCn2-wcudPk/s320/January+2012+084+watermark.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Last spring this Yucca plant sent up the giant shoot you see covered in white flowers. <br />
It is now dying and it's offspring surround it, preparing for the spring when they too will sprout a veritable tree of white flowers.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFMZ9n9SC33n_O9snmqaze1Mqt4EIygDmkV0R6ktia8x9wDCpEtFOHt3znHHIxINSh-GqEse-RIdV0fS-av0xsBL0V4o8BJf4ORHGluUWGpKyWl3gFae-tVEwQsDWlNfcdci64k7DHYmI/s1600/January+2012+092+watermark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFMZ9n9SC33n_O9snmqaze1Mqt4EIygDmkV0R6ktia8x9wDCpEtFOHt3znHHIxINSh-GqEse-RIdV0fS-av0xsBL0V4o8BJf4ORHGluUWGpKyWl3gFae-tVEwQsDWlNfcdci64k7DHYmI/s320/January+2012+092+watermark.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dead California Buckwheat overlooking a view toward Lucerne Valley.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQigvZPf7tAk7qFsKOgycRtf163Nt1LGlmPfSzsiCrcLecf6r-eqcVuMR6m4Cu1Hjf2iiT7TzkJ0HXBwv1Sd8XWEsq310CFCWAbPonIo_sQDxq8qSOLoc38BMZn40XHrvdh_2JIOJ7D9k/s1600/January+2012+093+watermark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQigvZPf7tAk7qFsKOgycRtf163Nt1LGlmPfSzsiCrcLecf6r-eqcVuMR6m4Cu1Hjf2iiT7TzkJ0HXBwv1Sd8XWEsq310CFCWAbPonIo_sQDxq8qSOLoc38BMZn40XHrvdh_2JIOJ7D9k/s320/January+2012+093+watermark.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The remnants of a Cholla Cactus.</td></tr>
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446403552495657779.post-69517469049656317272012-01-06T08:57:00.000-08:002012-01-06T08:57:25.447-08:00Upon Dwelling on Eating Locally GrownI am thinking about striving to eat as much food grown on my own land as possible. And I am realizing that things that are staples in our diet just wouldn't happen if it wasn't for imported or ultra processed foods, such as:<br />
<br />
vanilla (which in the orchid family and requires lots of humidity and very controlled temperatures)<br />
coffee (all I know is that it isn't grown in the US, and there has to be a reason for that)<br />
cinnamon<br />
cheese<br />
imitation parmesean cheese (hey, it's a staple around here)<br />
hot chocolate powder<br />
chocolate anything<br />
vegetable oil (on my own, I would just be living with butter instead of oil)<br />
olive oil (I could press my own olives, but that is SOOO MUCH WORK to get just a bit of oil, from growing the olives, harvesting, pressing, and I'm pretty sure the olives are cooked/fermented/something first)<br />
lard (is this seriously just animal fat? how do they get it's so white and strange?)<br />
<br />
in short - I would really enjoy doing the 'we're only eating what we have here on our land' for one year with the kids, I think it would make a truly amazing homeschooling year. But man, my food life would be so different if it weren't for so many of those imported foods. Can you imagine cheese being a rare treat? Or, in thinking about how much butter and oil I use in cooking, how many hours of butter churning would that translate to in a week?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446403552495657779.post-52049358031482352592011-10-12T13:43:00.000-07:002011-10-12T13:43:50.871-07:00Makeover Wednesday: Bathroom MakeoverHere is the first of our home make over posts!<br />
<br />
I, Heather, repainted the master bathroom. It's a modest makeover, we only did paint, but it's pretty striking and lots of fun!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5IaC3iFstyR87_OsJgL2upylh5yS9lNiJekppfZlsZh34WdlanMS8vNoUKs6Dsvka31aNpafNqPh4A_i_OWrYUYDzZ3go_pTGCFZecjUID73n_a2o_RZbJz9_jlJIpqawh3ik1fes5ss/s1600/IMG_9746.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5IaC3iFstyR87_OsJgL2upylh5yS9lNiJekppfZlsZh34WdlanMS8vNoUKs6Dsvka31aNpafNqPh4A_i_OWrYUYDzZ3go_pTGCFZecjUID73n_a2o_RZbJz9_jlJIpqawh3ik1fes5ss/s320/IMG_9746.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyd4aZgqX36qltLcA-0NEuc7Y8gKA9ZqZ2J8Vdu6DMgxpd_EAOByVr-m0xCHVuWHSvHgRMnEkJjByC6XMnriEDj_7c9FAZv50cMgOOgaTNk7AVZ-leMEHNaFaN8IfZoMPmDmA8jmn3UOM/s1600/IMG_9745.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyd4aZgqX36qltLcA-0NEuc7Y8gKA9ZqZ2J8Vdu6DMgxpd_EAOByVr-m0xCHVuWHSvHgRMnEkJjByC6XMnriEDj_7c9FAZv50cMgOOgaTNk7AVZ-leMEHNaFaN8IfZoMPmDmA8jmn3UOM/s320/IMG_9745.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before, right after I started taping.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuibUZsctAxikEw5sU3-9dJLh9KQu-FlcMckpEsg2j0Ly4JVTzgEmPs9lZySAR_cIol6y_vj4dZCQicbiTlK1aIp3qFfGLZdyLRo98ThRRoQWYKroZGQvzDGLtedSCEwByqpA5uarkZ08/s1600/IMG_9748.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuibUZsctAxikEw5sU3-9dJLh9KQu-FlcMckpEsg2j0Ly4JVTzgEmPs9lZySAR_cIol6y_vj4dZCQicbiTlK1aIp3qFfGLZdyLRo98ThRRoQWYKroZGQvzDGLtedSCEwByqpA5uarkZ08/s320/IMG_9748.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Man, that was a LOT of taping.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixPHxMkd80xYkGa24vYxRaDjoXN0wy1CKVL4hY21d4V1aRy3iKSZRGPMxaFaczAhpOYAgCkXdwSiUi_hDci5Hu31YWo_NHxlmE8l4S-fCViTxCNrglJ8eTgW0_oIO713Rq8GuNfH56U_A/s1600/IMG_9750.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixPHxMkd80xYkGa24vYxRaDjoXN0wy1CKVL4hY21d4V1aRy3iKSZRGPMxaFaczAhpOYAgCkXdwSiUi_hDci5Hu31YWo_NHxlmE8l4S-fCViTxCNrglJ8eTgW0_oIO713Rq8GuNfH56U_A/s320/IMG_9750.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tape Removed! I'll leave the cleaning till tomorrow...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwDggPjTn-6_fbQ_P_maA53lMoO6kGpSDSi1Oqaea5M7FLkdtfKQoWGFUS4S1oJP3kNrWCtdbnXBkrVyH6LbVMRC0e74GGc7GhFBQO5NjXNtE2THS7NOt6TXNAfeZKcdOcdyu_KMUzta8/s1600/IMG_9754.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwDggPjTn-6_fbQ_P_maA53lMoO6kGpSDSi1Oqaea5M7FLkdtfKQoWGFUS4S1oJP3kNrWCtdbnXBkrVyH6LbVMRC0e74GGc7GhFBQO5NjXNtE2THS7NOt6TXNAfeZKcdOcdyu_KMUzta8/s320/IMG_9754.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All clean and pretty in the daylight.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSA-lCrBi3rIhHX0kd48SU0qrR8rd2VJDAvhsC3B-MQxqkR773njpPY57XPG68Fd_ZylbTWlEfS7tfBUWMAHmBkOHER4YsMLnN5lznXR7xiluMNq6_d4XtrR5t_2LS6MT_sTPe8UkSRTg/s1600/IMG_9753.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSA-lCrBi3rIhHX0kd48SU0qrR8rd2VJDAvhsC3B-MQxqkR773njpPY57XPG68Fd_ZylbTWlEfS7tfBUWMAHmBkOHER4YsMLnN5lznXR7xiluMNq6_d4XtrR5t_2LS6MT_sTPe8UkSRTg/s320/IMG_9753.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I didn't like the wood or the tan counter top before,<br />
but now I like it with the blue!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYsP4Oc4ca-lCy2v9uGL8YqHhcwrlZBCHUndTo_7onZYJs90cdcuv4U8-ksStBDzcGlFmo0HjpTjJVCG_LpqAhRQxlj3ZhEIlz5BIt-nntoDSDHJ7hwFJ647xLcxFwxyT-FhlbZFLdhSY/s1600/IMG_9752.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYsP4Oc4ca-lCy2v9uGL8YqHhcwrlZBCHUndTo_7onZYJs90cdcuv4U8-ksStBDzcGlFmo0HjpTjJVCG_LpqAhRQxlj3ZhEIlz5BIt-nntoDSDHJ7hwFJ647xLcxFwxyT-FhlbZFLdhSY/s320/IMG_9752.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And we're all set up!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Painting the bathroom at all was kind of a wild hair. I went from, 'Hm, I should paint that bathroom before I clean and unpack it. Stripes sound fun!' to taping it all off within about fifteen minutes. For all the fore thought that didn't go into it, I like it a lot! Jeremy was kind of shocked and surprised and still getting used to something so terribly daring. But it looks nice and it doesn't look too girly.. at least the parts without flowers :).Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446403552495657779.post-47828080234603035892011-09-23T10:16:00.000-07:002011-09-23T10:16:31.707-07:00The Lack of Before and After PhotosAll our rooms are just a few things away from being finished.<br />
<br />
The bedroom is pretty close, but I have yet to unpack my favorite lamp.<br />
<br />
The kitchen needs one little bit of paint over the stove, and three inches of the counter top need to be sawed off before I can paint there, so I'm waiting for that.<br />
<br />
The living room is waiting for my rocking chair and the piano.<br />
<br />
The formal dining room is waiting for me to paint the armoire a nice farmy green color, acquire a few more mexican pressed back dining room chairs (and stain them a rich dark brown), and put a few things up on the walls.<br />
<br />
The kids room is waiting for some book selves and a bench to put toys in.<br />
<br />
The family room is waiting for walls and flooring.<br />
<br />
The front yard is waiting for some wire so I can finish our fence, some time so I can haul over rocks from around the yard to make a path, and some cactus' for our cactus garden.<br />
<br />
The office is waiting for walls and flooring, as is Luxy's bedroom (she is currently in the boys room).<br />
<br />
So, very slowly, as we find an extra hour here or a left over $20 there, these things will be done. For now, just take my word for it that things are coming along nicely :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446403552495657779.post-15409143394571321472011-09-15T14:22:00.000-07:002011-09-15T14:22:26.307-07:00Moving<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Well, we moved into Dusty Acres this weekend. It was exhausting. We just got the internet back up and running again today so there will be more posts soon. A lot is happening, a lot about the property is changing. After we killed all the spiders that had taken up residence in the house, we started doing other projects...like painting, installing light fixtures, refurbishing the Craigslist furniture we got specifically for the house, etc. We've got a long way to go still, but will try to take pictures of all of the major projects. Here is a quick little slideshow about our moving experience this weekend:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBQOCW2xZZqE4YParwiweA9LFiJ-ZA8xFYKDrSgnjWkP-laizP4EgaxvLBTZIIMMA1FSqsjM3CEx9_TanByOTpZXSDOo6VV6gd-35jwjCiaDVHDl3Sz4L2ELv6yA98KEM5SwVK9b5DW4Y/s1600/Photo0047.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBQOCW2xZZqE4YParwiweA9LFiJ-ZA8xFYKDrSgnjWkP-laizP4EgaxvLBTZIIMMA1FSqsjM3CEx9_TanByOTpZXSDOo6VV6gd-35jwjCiaDVHDl3Sz4L2ELv6yA98KEM5SwVK9b5DW4Y/s320/Photo0047.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Our pre-move relaxation day up at Lytle Creek (where we learned how to pan for gold).</div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtYZuL9SinDbrnmMAvAZTSkt5q0205YMDtpqzsoVBczDgr2-7AtBiS4RUmN7Qw91x3GgdALxIhCocDjKxfYGNkywx5X1Vb9NQQ-p7SvV4HPyh3b4T3NQvTyPj6HPXWbVUd8HP9MUIBbmA/s1600/Photo0057.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtYZuL9SinDbrnmMAvAZTSkt5q0205YMDtpqzsoVBczDgr2-7AtBiS4RUmN7Qw91x3GgdALxIhCocDjKxfYGNkywx5X1Vb9NQQ-p7SvV4HPyh3b4T3NQvTyPj6HPXWbVUd8HP9MUIBbmA/s320/Photo0057.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb8yM21VOh7zlywnuUhHG2Xhf4KQGqjeTpJzZBmavQIdI13kpkSJXDQbCh52j45dzXz25Rs9IQ1q54BgoDI26ddelGYTgIgSayvAJuF_74SmtivOjzqY1AtLv3rTed_mS0GDiFIp1qRdM/s1600/Photo0058.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb8yM21VOh7zlywnuUhHG2Xhf4KQGqjeTpJzZBmavQIdI13kpkSJXDQbCh52j45dzXz25Rs9IQ1q54BgoDI26ddelGYTgIgSayvAJuF_74SmtivOjzqY1AtLv3rTed_mS0GDiFIp1qRdM/s320/Photo0058.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A fire on the side of the freeway that I came across while picking up some furniture for the house.</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi86yyftMDWwudRQggXUL118uI7Zve_c86cUUpRpip9TGwJXumbV693kCTAAULhksFGiMwbNJ2ql3It9n5y2-eDgNCTYpgRoprma_4LF62WSQdn_eB8d3wLLbgcmIurE4jfyJ8JOBTnL9Y/s1600/Photo0078.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi86yyftMDWwudRQggXUL118uI7Zve_c86cUUpRpip9TGwJXumbV693kCTAAULhksFGiMwbNJ2ql3It9n5y2-eDgNCTYpgRoprma_4LF62WSQdn_eB8d3wLLbgcmIurE4jfyJ8JOBTnL9Y/s320/Photo0078.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Putting up security lights outside.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw3oR2RJCA664Lfoii_FcXZiSLYrBiGUNXQbUqR4HIk1A-WgGdqskfkUHhXXr5xDrXRXpbli2T59oV7KhMGgbLR9PWA_wgYz9v4ZdW4KpeE5TmfJd1xhv2h6XCHEEwiQUY7wQHZq54NGk/s1600/Photo0079.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw3oR2RJCA664Lfoii_FcXZiSLYrBiGUNXQbUqR4HIk1A-WgGdqskfkUHhXXr5xDrXRXpbli2T59oV7KhMGgbLR9PWA_wgYz9v4ZdW4KpeE5TmfJd1xhv2h6XCHEEwiQUY7wQHZq54NGk/s320/Photo0079.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Painting the eat-in kitchen and living room. The color is "Scottish Loch Blue". Looks like a Scottish loch (lake)...on a sunny day.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1wHFSoq9knrRGG0XFBBB-kfDTRSNzK67pioS3jRPuJoTqM_XHRcGtA8-QxKSrVnC1nM1ccXf6ms_jhW1Li-OdwUXeo3uDcXI38u-RjALI0CLj6PQdkiP6NKcebq8uSt_z6oY8NRbZW48/s1600/Photo0083.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1wHFSoq9knrRGG0XFBBB-kfDTRSNzK67pioS3jRPuJoTqM_XHRcGtA8-QxKSrVnC1nM1ccXf6ms_jhW1Li-OdwUXeo3uDcXI38u-RjALI0CLj6PQdkiP6NKcebq8uSt_z6oY8NRbZW48/s320/Photo0083.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Jack and Luxy in the moving truck. They had a blast in that truck.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwMBXT8lUZsL4Mn1zFKN1RwxChufLEb6U-o0WBAB1lCWq6Km8Y0TsoR6VyOST5qzc0RztoLpGJFh5IN6wUfW96MRQyU4PJW10atEFypaLUnjGNyV8OJYEACfFYnxqQaZoy-KEwU4mLIg4/s1600/Photo0084.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwMBXT8lUZsL4Mn1zFKN1RwxChufLEb6U-o0WBAB1lCWq6Km8Y0TsoR6VyOST5qzc0RztoLpGJFh5IN6wUfW96MRQyU4PJW10atEFypaLUnjGNyV8OJYEACfFYnxqQaZoy-KEwU4mLIg4/s320/Photo0084.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Jack and Luxy carrying a table leg to the truck.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLh-_hy_wF6ehVnlqIE_Viwi6VMZ-K7kWojx0JWLcny2lAo1g9Zh7hACcwM5jHH-obyUdP-WSgL3FUvIzdMN5jaquugNUtUP_wynpv0zh7lbtm6-ld5jb21gij35uaY3qjTIE9nZcG5f4/s1600/Photo0086.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLh-_hy_wF6ehVnlqIE_Viwi6VMZ-K7kWojx0JWLcny2lAo1g9Zh7hACcwM5jHH-obyUdP-WSgL3FUvIzdMN5jaquugNUtUP_wynpv0zh7lbtm6-ld5jb21gij35uaY3qjTIE9nZcG5f4/s320/Photo0086.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Uncle Tim and Luxy fixing the china hutch.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqgQ0opKj_iM2W2rBpkvR6qF9C02ZnHdc597vaVpjiWwmt1SWMe5UMRL5qipWQVGcQ4KuQxPn2twIF4dazrxL6GXSS0Liixk0jzQsOp1m5tUAUBkXSCb1GPpSdTwywXV-FQ4A-9kxJcRI/s1600/Photo0085.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqgQ0opKj_iM2W2rBpkvR6qF9C02ZnHdc597vaVpjiWwmt1SWMe5UMRL5qipWQVGcQ4KuQxPn2twIF4dazrxL6GXSS0Liixk0jzQsOp1m5tUAUBkXSCb1GPpSdTwywXV-FQ4A-9kxJcRI/s320/Photo0085.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Jack's footprint in the sand outside the front door. He was so proud he made me take a picture.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinQUeGqAQj1FF_7OqOEGWoXofkgZpIl1HtZqZBDkNQVnbylPg5iCKDquFqTDtkjPJWMcoCz9JJ_qtValP2dxzwUy9SaXXkKR4gRbby8i-9WiSnp9XjoYppNpbL9rInK4Tyi1jZA5y0SCI/s1600/Photo0089.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinQUeGqAQj1FF_7OqOEGWoXofkgZpIl1HtZqZBDkNQVnbylPg5iCKDquFqTDtkjPJWMcoCz9JJ_qtValP2dxzwUy9SaXXkKR4gRbby8i-9WiSnp9XjoYppNpbL9rInK4Tyi1jZA5y0SCI/s320/Photo0089.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Jack and Luxy sitting on one of the many tire towers around fence poles not far from the house.There is a colony of gargantuan stink bugs living at the bottom of this one.</div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj80y2ldHjwqk_uhmzGVK6aOgr8Mtq6aWHQYej8_9Kt_ykxJIIX7x6_yN6BkJJgVSN2eu3QQ25Sf04ClyQ9uaaC5boUIEun54jkEM1642uri7-8VAQFKiLORIcT3QKoutQU6WxSS8UhWPU/s1600/Photo0091.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj80y2ldHjwqk_uhmzGVK6aOgr8Mtq6aWHQYej8_9Kt_ykxJIIX7x6_yN6BkJJgVSN2eu3QQ25Sf04ClyQ9uaaC5boUIEun54jkEM1642uri7-8VAQFKiLORIcT3QKoutQU6WxSS8UhWPU/s320/Photo0091.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This house has more space than our apartment (obviously) but the surfaces are lower. This is what happens when you have a bowl of apples within arms reach of two hungry toddlers.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVD8kmWL1CM6omwYBPSr1HTOKm92NuY3t8z6AabGfqE2vX9j8BsiWivZp6Fq8HESVXfzMT-WXmNfBACbgPm2l5gpM_TD_agzvQrydKmj0C6_dmAtDw0u65GinTto75sF73pRK_C7g8JE4/s1600/Photo0077.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVD8kmWL1CM6omwYBPSr1HTOKm92NuY3t8z6AabGfqE2vX9j8BsiWivZp6Fq8HESVXfzMT-WXmNfBACbgPm2l5gpM_TD_agzvQrydKmj0C6_dmAtDw0u65GinTto75sF73pRK_C7g8JE4/s320/Photo0077.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The sunset from our kitchen window.</div><br />
<br />
<br />
</div>Jeremy McCoolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17953337145293300698noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446403552495657779.post-67231879732805318792011-09-07T09:14:00.000-07:002011-09-07T09:14:56.933-07:00Escrow is done!The loan has funded and we just have a few more hours to wait until we officially get the keys.<br />
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We'll be starting the move with a good cleaning and some paint, so get ready for some before and after photos!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446403552495657779.post-46876331498244127682011-08-31T07:19:00.001-07:002011-08-31T07:19:32.682-07:00Things are moving alongSigned some loan documents yesterday. We still have a few things that need to be done and then we are good to go! Hopefully we are moving this weekend.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446403552495657779.post-39603238992536336572011-08-23T11:07:00.000-07:002011-08-23T14:50:09.863-07:00Furnishing and TimelinesWell the day we are going to get our keys is currently being estimated for next Tuesday, which is later than we anticipated, but Tuesday is a good day. It leaves a few weekdays to work on the house before moving in on the weekend, and it's a long weekend too. We should be able to get free labor to move heavy furniture.<br />
<br />
Speaking of furniture - the house is quickly filling up, before we even move in! We are getting my mom's rocking chair which we LOVE, Jeremy's parents are giving us their piano, which I totally don't understand, but I'm very grateful. We have a bunch of little things that have been stored here, there, and everywhere that will finally all find a happy home together, in our house.<br />
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And my porch plants are doing very well. We have a little sunflower seedling quickly making its way into the world at about a centimeter a day! And I tossed a little packet of seeds I found floating around for some sort of perennial flowering plant and the seedlings just popped up this morning! I'm excited to be moving in a week with some healthy, flourishing plant life. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446403552495657779.post-19952058275740074372011-08-19T06:57:00.000-07:002011-08-19T06:57:32.233-07:00I Hate PackingHowever, packing week begins today. We should have the keys and be working on the house next weekend, to move in beginning of the following week.<br />
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I'm excited to BE there, not excited to GET there.<br />
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Here is a picture of bubbs wreaking havoc on my organizational piles...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh76rawkPm6rsS0CF8HGigxuMw0Qf5gQxyPgo-0LbZWuWGI9RokIoP-5buN1vdmlBGByr4hES1dX0sBlwUYMZE1wKQqj-zJX-VyvomapVcnnYhCp-pXsBoYKOftcKBWH26KzWcpQrmviUk/s1600/IMG_9535.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh76rawkPm6rsS0CF8HGigxuMw0Qf5gQxyPgo-0LbZWuWGI9RokIoP-5buN1vdmlBGByr4hES1dX0sBlwUYMZE1wKQqj-zJX-VyvomapVcnnYhCp-pXsBoYKOftcKBWH26KzWcpQrmviUk/s320/IMG_9535.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446403552495657779.post-62005675032738117292011-08-18T11:34:00.000-07:002011-08-18T13:20:28.425-07:00A Place of Peace, and CactiIn the Bible, the Gospel is sometimes referred to as the Gospel of Peace. In the sermon on the mount, Jesus tells us, blessed are the peacemakers. Which speaks volumes to me.<br />
<br />
I did not come from a life of peace, from a home of peace. In fact, I still deal with the effects of a slight anxiety disorder, fits of rage, bouts of depression. The love and peace of Jesus Christ has entered my life slowly, almost unnoticeable at times, like the dawning of a bright, sunny morning. I look around at my life and realize how much more light, joy, peace and hope there is and I want more.<br />
<br />
I want this peace for my own life and it's a gift I want to give to others. A home devoid of hostility and secrets. A home full of love and openness, even when being open is hard. <br />
<br />
I see that our home could be a great tool in this goal. Not only the inside, but the outside as well. In fact, one of my big deams is a prayer garden, named for the prayers of peace I am already praying over it as well as the intention that it would be a place for all the members of our family and any guests to find an invitation to get away and to seek Jesus.<br />
<br />
The grand idea is to have a medium size area, about 20' by 30' with a little fence around it. Drought resistant (and hopefully native, to encourage birds and butterflies) hedges just inside the fence and then little rock pathways, with cacti and succulents full of breathtaking desert flowers. Sprinkled throughout will be chairs, benches and a table with an umbrella. Large landscaping rocks with scripture scrolled on them. Bird feeders and wild flower seeds in little nooks and crannies.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sharelandscaping.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/landscape-ideas-desert.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="248" src="http://www.sharelandscaping.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/landscape-ideas-desert.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From: <a href="http://www.sharelandscaping.com/desert-landscape-ideas.html">share landscaping</a> </td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<br />
I plan to create it slowly. With the refuse of the home improvement projects of other, more wealthy people. With plant trimmings from family and friends. From small native offshoots we commission from the local foothills. And perhaps a Southern California black walnut tree - whose nuts were eaten by local Indians and are quite similar to the walnuts harvested by commercial walnut farmers.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.csupomona.edu/~biotrek/img/tour_walnuts_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://www.csupomona.edu/~biotrek/img/tour_walnuts_large.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From: <a href="http://www.csupomona.edu/~biotrek/tour/walnut_hill.html">Cal Poly Pomona Black Walnut Grove</a></td></tr>
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<br />
I am excited to begin. It will be my first outdoor project, that I'll work on while the kids play outside every morning. And all I will need to start is a spade, a shovel and a rake. Hopefully, we'll have enough money left from outfitting the inside of the house to buy some quality garden tools.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446403552495657779.post-57086386625020174762011-08-18T10:55:00.000-07:002011-08-18T13:19:08.131-07:00Ambrose - the poster boy for nurture.Ambrose is a testament to my thumb turning a bit greener. He was slowly fading as a house plant when I decided some sun would do him good. He has been a porch plant now for two weeks and is a nice dark green. And the crowning glory to this pale green thumb, is that he has his very first spider shoot just starting to grow it's little legs.<br />
<br />
Now that I am coming to understand that plants, like all things, need to be nurtured, not just set in a corner and watered/fed/given a peanut butter sandwich and a movie. I'm learning to turn from neglect to nurture. And the lesson has been brought home with my lab experiment: Ambrose the spider plant. <br />
<br />
There are hooks in the kitchen in the new house, just calling out for some hanging plants. When I think about the house as I would love it, I think about clean, tidy spaces, ready for laughter and spreading out blankets with toys - and bird feeders out side our windows and big, healthy house plants. These images just speak nurtured, cared for, cherished - the happy work of a woman who is not jumping from emergency to emergency. The work of a woman who clothes herself in strength and dignity; a woman who smiles at the furture (Psalm 31:25).<br />
<br />
And so, I finished transplanting some plants to bigger pots and cleaning off our little apartment porch. I realized that if I could find an off-white skein of yarn and a key ring in my house, I could make a plant hanger for Ambrose's new home in our new kitchen. I commissioned Bug (Luxy) to hold the key ring and maintain tension for me and in just a little bit, we had this:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFIu0pWbk_CMKSmevwSdoU6TpaDsfajJZiX88ulzfk6WCbyFtKIZdlnHj0L5uEOtZ_kXRtVLwdXh_mxspaduCoiF3B6qSDPNz7Vzf5N8RsR4FOAuZkeQuN8d2Vr0618BZKs3k-dALV-D4/s1600/IMG_9592.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFIu0pWbk_CMKSmevwSdoU6TpaDsfajJZiX88ulzfk6WCbyFtKIZdlnHj0L5uEOtZ_kXRtVLwdXh_mxspaduCoiF3B6qSDPNz7Vzf5N8RsR4FOAuZkeQuN8d2Vr0618BZKs3k-dALV-D4/s320/IMG_9592.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ambrose - my poster boy for Nurture.</td></tr>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446403552495657779.post-82874612470576306672011-08-15T07:49:00.000-07:002011-08-15T07:50:09.046-07:00Painting is done<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> We cut a deal on Friday that saved the house for us. The seller was very shaky on paying $4,000 to replace the septic tank system. They asked if I would be willing to contribute toward it. I told them I didn't have the cash to do that (and to be perfectly honest, I would not have given them any money up front if I did have it before there were signed documents and legal protections). So I called my loan agent and asked if we could raise the sale price of the house by $1800. This allows us to pay the seller almost half of the cost of the septic replacement, it only raises our mortgage payment by about $10 per month (although I know in the long run it comes out to about double what the $1800 cash would have been now...but we're not planning on the long run; we're working to have this place paid off in 10 - 15 years max, not 30), we don't pay the seller anything if the deal falls through, and we get a brand spanking new septic system out of the deal. So, after an exciting and eventful Friday afternoon, we made last minute arrangements to get up there and paint first thing Saturday morning.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">- AND -</div><br />
After a day of hard work, the painting is done. The homestead at Dusty Acres went from looking like this:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaYOM3JwzD0d3ekDSn5bgSVxGV0umABjC82U2eKiLQofGeuJRo-qInC7_CDK-JVlYfZVirSlccMQZyo_DWS_qbXIzEzD7Ce3K0mmCFzMMtNAWwQy-WmT0D0CL4Oczi_X-uHEBRBEK0Hos/s1600/house+from+redfin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaYOM3JwzD0d3ekDSn5bgSVxGV0umABjC82U2eKiLQofGeuJRo-qInC7_CDK-JVlYfZVirSlccMQZyo_DWS_qbXIzEzD7Ce3K0mmCFzMMtNAWwQy-WmT0D0CL4Oczi_X-uHEBRBEK0Hos/s400/house+from+redfin.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">to looking like this:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4slnGP9iupj33Qw2lq0rsLaIDs8P4NseS45wINSHzqEy0KsSPT4LYrtkCAjljiXzh_LaKeodFBfIBPXKUg2cNOHKHeU3KddyMu6O9LZD6PSTN_OB0u9blBFnfiyWbgGijQsQCliEUVQ0/s1600/photo+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4slnGP9iupj33Qw2lq0rsLaIDs8P4NseS45wINSHzqEy0KsSPT4LYrtkCAjljiXzh_LaKeodFBfIBPXKUg2cNOHKHeU3KddyMu6O9LZD6PSTN_OB0u9blBFnfiyWbgGijQsQCliEUVQ0/s400/photo+1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH3gkyD-1mtXUVkkyyJkVWBxfbDIs4khT1T0DhClQfvJz1eBuwJni0Lk1ym00ze4wKlIwo1qmsmb8K9R4MfJBnPjTnoJWFkQdvKG6IZnKY1okU5rG50qQxEzGj3Ayd4qRco2V9gyruwYU/s1600/photo+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH3gkyD-1mtXUVkkyyJkVWBxfbDIs4khT1T0DhClQfvJz1eBuwJni0Lk1ym00ze4wKlIwo1qmsmb8K9R4MfJBnPjTnoJWFkQdvKG6IZnKY1okU5rG50qQxEzGj3Ayd4qRco2V9gyruwYU/s400/photo+2.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKCYMEQE5l3VwK1NVk83iGkPVh26w-3Dn6ZXmVtG_KIIcjFFSiyckMq7mphDs1YUPdpK3KiqFCqpFSQLVy-B72gPOMoqa44mGIX0BeB9WXWx9BwOf0ujuBLaGga6Il9e2BOpCpP3RlkvI/s1600/photo+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKCYMEQE5l3VwK1NVk83iGkPVh26w-3Dn6ZXmVtG_KIIcjFFSiyckMq7mphDs1YUPdpK3KiqFCqpFSQLVy-B72gPOMoqa44mGIX0BeB9WXWx9BwOf0ujuBLaGga6Il9e2BOpCpP3RlkvI/s400/photo+3.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOEohzzGxwHcL7nKnCKMUyFwyqE_VEAYKlNHEwQLJhXuTePmulA89G76etqzqr78w1STJksay5E_liKYSUJByyNRHSzIga7woGntHNstzqzlIyozAgWIugo0sw5MUA2nRIJBiUZZewV1E/s1600/photo+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOEohzzGxwHcL7nKnCKMUyFwyqE_VEAYKlNHEwQLJhXuTePmulA89G76etqzqr78w1STJksay5E_liKYSUJByyNRHSzIga7woGntHNstzqzlIyozAgWIugo0sw5MUA2nRIJBiUZZewV1E/s400/photo+4.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It may be hard to tell from the "before" picture, but we painted almost the entire front of the house, including the porch coverings. And all of it with that 5-gallon bucket of paint that we got for $25.00. Now that I've paid my stupid tax, the seller should be completing the septic work this week (probably by Wednesday). We may get the keys by the end of next week!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And so, to celebrate, we all went to the beach yesterday. It was our first non-dramatic family beach day ever since we had more than one kid. And Joey, the youngest (9 mos. old), sat up by himself for like an hour and ate Cheez-Its. So proud. God is good.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Grace,</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Jeremy</div></div>Jeremy McCoolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17953337145293300698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446403552495657779.post-81854391846056610062011-08-12T15:17:00.000-07:002011-08-12T15:17:24.934-07:00Big Dreams, Small CowsSince we've begun thinking about having a little bit of acreage, I've toyed with the thought of having a cow. I don't like goats milk and I just don't think I could get used to, I'm too picky. I've accepted that.<br />
<br />
But cows wouldn't work. They are too big. They require very strong fencing, they produce way, way too much milk (which legally you can't sell unless you go through some super crazy hoops to be a lisenced dairy), they are also very expensive to feed, when one has nothing but dirt and tumble weeds to offer.<br />
<br />
Enter the miniature dairy cow.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_549204438"><img border="0" height="259" src="http://www.minicattlepros.com/images/jersey/Troy-mini-jersey.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.minicattlepros.com/jerseys.html">This guy is only 5'9! This little lady would look like a dog next to Jeremy!</a></td></tr>
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<br />
About 10-15 years ago I saw a tiny little brahma bull and cow at the feed store where my mom bought her feed. They were so tiny! It was amazing.<br />
<br />
In reflecting on that, I have found that there are little, tiny Jersey cows - that are actually the original size (and like our chickens, vegetables and portion sizes, they too have been super sized over the years).<br />
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<a href="http://www.miniaturejerseyassociation.com/history.htm">Here is a link about the history</a>. They are kind of pricey and will require a SERIOUS amount of research as well as some workshops on simple things like milking a cow, and midwifery. So, in a few years, we'll start in on that endeavor! And perhaps sooner, if a little miniature of the bovine variety comes waltzing through the local cattle auction at a low, low price while me and/or my mother are there...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446403552495657779.post-41966640293744172712011-08-11T13:13:00.000-07:002011-08-12T07:21:10.505-07:00Praying for a Septic Tank!Just got word:<br />
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Septic tank totally failed the inspection. It'll be quite a chunk of change for the bank to repair the current one or install a new one. Praying that the bank decides to go ahead and do the necessary repairs/replacement for it to pass inspection.<br />
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Holding our breath for another miracle!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Our Septic Tank Story:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"> OK, now for the reason behind the phrase "holding our breath for ANOTHER miracle". This is our second escrow in the last year and a half. We were in the first escrow (on a house in a beautiful little town called Mentone) for almost eleven months. It was a great house, nice sized lot, a lot of potential. We had lots of pipe dreams about that house too, what we could do with it, what we would do with the yard, dreams of digging a basement, dreams of being missionaries to the community of Redlands, which is filled with what some might consider "Christian cults", etc. The house was only about 950 square feet, but it had a big yard (in my estimation having lived all of my life in suburbia). </div><div style="text-align: left;"> When we got close to our closing date, the Realtor called and told me that the entire septic tank had failed the inspection. There was no way to repair it, it had to be replaced. Since this also was an FHA loan, we could do nothing but wait to see if the seller would agree to do the repairs. The job was quoted at about $3800. I was devastated at first, because the house was cheap, under $100k. Would they really spend all that money just so that we can buy the house? The encouraging thought that came along with this was 'now that they know this is a problem they have to disclose to any future buyer as well, so maybe they will'.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> We prayed a lot during this time. We prayed that if God didn't want us to have this house, if this was a mistake, then we would know if the deal didn't go through, if it crumbled because of this. But we wanted the house so bad. We prayed for a miracle. We were essentially praying, 'If there is any way for us to get this house, please show us. Don't let us make a mistake. But not Your will, but ours be done.' At least that's how it felt some days. And you know what? God came through. The seller finally (after about two weeks) agreed to pay the money to install a new septic tank. We were thrilled, but we had already extended escrow once. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> After about two more weeks, they started trying to pull permits to do the septic work on the house. Red tape everywhere. I got the call one day. I was shocked, but not appalled. I believed my God to be bigger than all of it. I prayed harder. Since the sewer line was so close to the house (it was put in long after the house was built), the city would not allow a new septic tank to be put in. The only other option was hooking the house up to the city sewer. Estimate: $35,000 (yeah, thousand, $20k of it was a city connection fee). </div><div style="text-align: left;"> Remember, we were paying less than $100k for the house. The cost of this work was more than 1/3 of our offer. The seller took about a month and a half to respond this time. They were motivated to sell the house, but at what cost? We prayed and called the Realtor just about every day for any news. She cut me down to once a week because there was no news to tell. We were already in about month 5 of our escrow by this point. We prayed that if this was a mistake, let it fall through, but God, PLEASE GIVE US THIS HOUSE! The seller finally came back and agreed to do the work. We were delighted, but not shocked. I even got to witness a little to our Realtor about the power of God and how all things work together for the good of those who love Him. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> To make an already too long story short, the seller, once they decided they were going to do the work, did not waste much time. They got some bids, hired a contractor, and started pulling permits. We ran into some more red tape with the city. Mentone is technically unincorporated property. It belongs to San Bernardino county but is in the Redlands city water district. Apparently a property cannot be hooked into the city sewer system if it has not first been annexed into the city of Redlands. This process took about 4 months. By this time we were 10-1/2 months into our escrow and took a good long look at the house. Our family had expanded since we started this escrow (we now had 3 kids instead of 2). The house only had 2 bedrooms. It was 950 square feet. We finally told them that we were tired of waiting and the house was too small for us anyway, and cancelled our contract. The seller was already so invested in the deal that they offered to drop the price $10,000 if we would stay in, which was tempting, but didn't change the facts. God didn't make the deal fall through for us because it was a mistake, but He gave us a good long time to think about it.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"> Now, about 6 months after that roller coaster ended, we get the phone call on our next dream home. The septic inspection totally failed. I took the news much more lightly this time, and I am praying for another miracle, but this time I am praying for God's will, not mine, because I know He has my best interests at heart. I also know that He won't stop us from making a mistake, but He may give us a good long time to think about it first. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"> We'll keep you posted on developments in this new drama.</div>Jeremy and Heather McCoolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04325315894034196381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446403552495657779.post-86962935563706367572011-08-11T12:59:00.000-07:002011-08-11T13:10:22.134-07:00WheatI am planning on growing my own wheat. In a nut shell, here are the pros and cons for us to do that:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s3.images.com/huge.7.35361.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://s3.images.com/huge.7.35361.JPG" width="219" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://illustrationsource.com/stock/image/35361/woman-harvesting-wheat/?&results_per_page=1&detail=TRUE&page=11">This beautiful painting can be found here</a>.</td></tr>
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<b><u>Pros:</u></b><br />
<b><u><br />
</u></b><br />
For 6lbs of wheat seeds we should harvest about 50lbs (according to <a href="http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/Growing-Wheat-Types-Of-Wheat.aspx">this article</a> in Mother Earth News) to be turned into 50lbs flour.<br />
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We'll be eating very, very healthy home made bread year round with those kind of stores.<br />
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We get to experience first hand, every year, a wheat harvest to make those biblical parables all the more impactfull.<br />
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We can use the chaff/stocks/leftovers as straw bedding for both chickens and rabbits.<br />
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We get to use a sickle! Well, maybe not for such a small amount, but it'd still be pretty awesome.<br />
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Stored wheat berries last for a very, very long time.<br />
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<b><u>Cons:</u></b><br />
<b><u><br />
</u></b><br />
The wheat berries (pre-ground flour) need to be stored in a dry (no problem in the desert), air tight container that will keep out bugs, vermin and mold.<br />
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50lbs of wheat berries, need a bit of space (not just a little left over kitchen cabinet space), so we may need to wait until our Mercantile shed is built to store this stuff.<br />
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It is suggested that you grind the amount of flour you will use for one week and store that flour in your fridge. With that in mind, we'll need a nice grinder as the hand grinders can aparently take FOREVER to yield just a small amount of flour (and, the article states, using a regular blender will leave you with pretty coarsely ground flour, making your breads/bisquits/whatever pretty darn grainy).<br />
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I fear that the wheat may take a lot of water to thrive in such a dry climate. I think I'm going to have to find that out for myself though.<br />
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The big con is money - money for the storage space, storage containers and money for the grinder. Once those are handled, we should be good to go.<br />
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By the way - I love that painting. Anyone want to find me a print ;)<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><i>Blessings,</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Heather</i></div><br />
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Jeremy and Heather McCoolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04325315894034196381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446403552495657779.post-67501027272732908842011-08-11T11:59:00.000-07:002011-08-11T13:45:28.502-07:00Wind power and living off the grid<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thewindalliance.org/The-History-of-Wind.aspx"><img border="0" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF7Vr19Qw5uKFK65-GUAeK7lMzahp-yG2ijJjqMvICiQC7E4mCu-lW5YrY7HQUtb9MTJl7NdijHI3hdMW9XXibKQB49soo_AOQ2PZTuM-hcILZ1miJwMnPha9rl6UkxZdEeL40y7d_bOhN/s320/windmills-usa-old-west.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />
One of my dreams for Dusty Acres is to build at least one windmill, a fancy one overlooking the "town". It obviously won't be as big as the one pictured here, but it will be fully functional, and it will power our home. I really have no idea how much power one windmill will generate, so I may need two or even several for all the power we will need, or even couple the wind power with solar power. If there are two things we have a lot of in the high desert, they are wind and sun.<br />
I found a website that details how to make a home-made wind turbine out of "common household items" per-se. You can view it <a href="http://www.mdpub.com/Wind_Turbine/">here</a> if you are interested. Putting one of these up saves the environment. But honestly, that's the least of my worries. I want to be off the grid because there's really no reason to be on it. You can build your own wind turbine for probably 300 - 400 dollars (the guy in the website above built his for $140, but had some parts on hand already). I heard of a guy today who built one in his yard and it not only powers his house, but the extra is hooked into the grid for the rest of the neighborhood, so he gets no electric bill and Edison pays him $25 a month for the electricity he generates for them. That's a sweet deal.<br />
Not only do wind turbines look cool, they can also provide all the power you would need for your house and everything you do around it. If the power ever goes out in the neighborhood, yours should stay on (if you've got a good store from the turbine). Storms, which generally knock out power lines, actually produce a lot of wind and thus if your turbine is strong and secure enough, you should get extra energy during storms instead of none. But probably the number two reason I want to build this (just beneath not wanting to pay an electric bill) is for the experience and challenge of creating the turbine, from scratch. The author of the website referenced above states that anyone with a little mechanical bent and some knowledge of electricity should be able to do this easily. I have neither of those attributes at my disposal. So this will not be easy for me.<br />
I will carefully document the process and you can all laugh along with me at my foibles and terrible mistakes. Hopefully we will come out in the end with a beautiful and functional turbine that powers our house, and makes Dusty Acres look a little more like we want it to be in actuality: a throwback to simpler times gone by.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Grace,</div><div style="text-align: center;">Jeremy</div><div><br />
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</div>Jeremy and Heather McCoolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04325315894034196381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446403552495657779.post-22384323747333503262011-08-10T13:38:00.000-07:002011-08-10T13:55:54.544-07:00God's Coming Through Already Well, we are within two weeks of closing escrow on Dusty Acres. Our closing date is technically this coming Monday, but there is still some work the seller has to do on the house before our FHA loan will close. They should be completing that work today. And after they finish their work, I get to pay my stupid tax (Dave Ramsey's term, not mine).<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOX0Ykc2Tkvpq1l39J-fA5IzUdABVQTzlokcwNHqmh7xeMXanSLQEmcedAgE4atzPu-IS5cKOkrpnv5TJ76QpGEa7QjlF8GaHmMYZar_0ejLZ5wwWnggV-QeAHvl1jxiOfLXcfh5PqH1HK/s1600/IMG_9507.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOX0Ykc2Tkvpq1l39J-fA5IzUdABVQTzlokcwNHqmh7xeMXanSLQEmcedAgE4atzPu-IS5cKOkrpnv5TJ76QpGEa7QjlF8GaHmMYZar_0ejLZ5wwWnggV-QeAHvl1jxiOfLXcfh5PqH1HK/s320/IMG_9507.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> I daftly volunteered to paint some bare wood on the front of the house in order to "sweeten the pot" a little bit and make our offer seem more appealing to the seller. It was by far the least expensive fix of all of them and I decided that we could handle the cost (meaning the cost of the paint, because we will be doing the painting ourselves, "I'll get by with a little help from my friends").<br />
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They say that two of the most stressful things in (an ordinary suburban American) life are 1. Escrow, and 2. Moving. They just may be right. It is all we can do right now to stay calm and collected, and to tell the truth, things are not exactly peachy-keen in the McCool household at the moment. On my end, I am handling the escrow and watching my savings account dwindle as more and more sudden (and rather unexpected...since I've never done this before I did not know what to expect) costs come up in this process. We have been praying that our funds will prove to be sufficient and that we will have a little leftover for some repairs and improvements. We are making priority lists of how urgent all of the changes we want to make are and then we will see how far we can get on the money we have available.<br />
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Two of our main priorities are:<br />
1. painting the front of the house (we cannot close escrow if we don't)<br />
2. getting a stove (so that we can eat once we move)<br />
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God has already started answering our prayers. In the last few days both of these needs were met. I work for the company that owns the apartment complex we currently live at. I work with supplies to make ready the apartments as they become vacant and repair occupied units. My boss is the manager of all the supplies for the entire company (58 properties in all). I simply mentioned to him that we are looking for a stove for the house and asked him if in the improbability that his drivers picked up an old beat-up one that still actually worked, would he consider sending it my way? He asked me a very unexpected question. He said, "How old is the stove in your apartment?" I found out it was "original" which actually means about 7 years old. He said he would have no problem replacing it when we move out and passing our stove on to us! Blessings galore. That's at least a $100 appliance that we no longer have to buy.<br />
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Also, my dad told me the other day that my good friend's dad used to be a house painter. I have known this guy since I was born and I never knew he used to be a house painter. I called him for some tips and he had lots of suggestions. I was glad that I had talked to him. I need all the help I can get making this house look nice and covering the naked wood and I have to do it really really quickly. I was planning to spend a few hundred dollars on paint and supplies. He called me today and said that he just happened to be at the hardware store and asked if I wanted him to pick up some paint for us. He found a 5-gallon of greyish paint for $30.00, deeply discounted because it was a tinted color that had been rejected by the buyer. I told him that would make a good undercoat, even though we had planned on painting it white to match the rest of the house. He called back about twenty minutes later to tell me that he had dug into the employee at the paint counter for a while and found that they actually had a 5 gallon of good quality almost totally white paint with the primer mixed in already for $25.00, discounted for the same reason. So if the colors match OK, the $250 - $300 I had planned on spending on paint just dropped to $25.00.<br />
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God is good. He is still on the throne, and prayer most definitely changes things. I dropped about 20 lbs of worry with these two developments. Jesus said (as related in Matthew 6:25-34) that the lilies of the field and the birds of the air do not worry about what they will wear or what they will eat or where the money will come from, but God still feeds and clothes them. He then goes on to say, "Are you not worth much more than they?" He then explains, "[The world] eagerly seek[s] all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." Heather read this to me yesterday afternoon when I was in the middle of a stress meltdown. Today, God took care of us. He'll take care of you too if you will only ask.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Grace, </div><div style="text-align: center;">Jeremy</div>Jeremy and Heather McCoolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04325315894034196381noreply@blogger.com0