Our Christmas story on "The Story"

Xavier and I were featured in a radio program, "The Story" (North Carolina Public Radio)! And it aired on my birthday, no less! Of course I have sent out this news to every living person that I ever knew because it was really a moment of fame for the two of us. However, if you haven't heard the Santa Story and would like to hear it, click below for the audio. It aired last Monday, but then there were some listener responses to the story so they talked a bit more about it on Wednesday (which I added to the end of the audio, below).

In order to do the interview we had to go to the MPR (Minnesota Public Radio) studio in St. Paul where they could send the audio signal back and forth between North Carolina and Minnesota. We were asked to go to one of the music studios so that they could record Xavier playing the guitar. The sound engineer set us up in head phones, each in front of a giant microphone the size of your head. We were all alone in the room with the engineer on the other side of a glass window, but we could hear Dick Gordon (of "The Story") as if he were sitting right there. Well, the interview went really well and we had a fabulous experience. After we were finished the sound guy recorded Xavier playing 2 of his guitar pieces and burned it onto a CD (I'm sure I'll get around to putting it on this blog pretty darn soon). Then, he took us a tour of the MPR building. Hey! I got to sit in Keri Miller's chair!

René, Ahna and Xavier 1998

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Selena learns to iron... and it snowed, por fin!

This morning Selena requested that she learn to iron clothes. My jaw dropped down to the floor and flew up again! I love how my kids continue to surprise me and alter whatever it was that I knew about them. This is the child who used to throw clothes all over the floor of her bedroom and wear them in whatever condition. She used to wear different colored socks to school and refused to wear jeans until she was 14. Now she is becoming neat like her father and "doesn't like wrinkles" in her clothes. Well, no better time like a Sunday to start ironing clothes. I haven't really done it in years but I'm still pretty good at it. I have a repertoire of pitfalls to avoid; like not using starch on dark colored pants, or leaving the iron to cool on the ironing table so that a dog would go by and knock it over right onto the wood floor. So, we set out to iron some shirts and pants. All went very well. We

We have been wondering if we will get a white Christmas this year. Wonder no more, it has come! I still love it! December is the honeymoon period and by February you want a divorce from it, but snow is uplifting after the drabness of November. Incidentally, the photo above is of the chicken house. Our flock has dwindled since the invasion of the weasel. We lost half of the ducks and about 3 chickens in one night (their necks were eaten!) Anyway, winter is hard for them, no doubt about it.

As soon as Xavier saw the snow he was out the door with the dogs. Below: Xavier and Jota.
Xavier made some angels in the snow. Skippy Lu was certainly curious about what he was up to.
On another note, we still have our foster dog, Tara (Mom of the coon house puppies). She has come a long way since we got her; not as timid and afraid. She loves my bed and sleeps with me and Skippy Lu at night. We need to find someone that will allow her to cuddle; she's good at that!

Xavier's guitar quartet- as yet unnamed

This summer Xavier started taking lessons with Alan Johnston and is going to McPhail Center for Music . Alan invited him to join their quartet (or what was then a trio) and they have been working together since September. This Sunday we had everyone out to Ham Lake for breakfast and a practice session. What handsome boys! Henry, Luke, Xavier and Austin (and Alan's knee).

Have you tried KOMBUCHA?

Kombucha tea is a fermented drink that is easily produced and may have many health benefits. Selena and I have been drinking it for a couple years now. The #1 health benefit for us is that we don't drink Diet Coke anymore. I could also say that it has eliminated former cravings for "soft drinks", candy and other high fructose corn syrup products, but that may also be due to other dietary changes we've made (switching to a whole foods diet). For me it's been a great aid for digestion and a great thirst quencher when I've been working outside in the garden. Some claim the following health benefits:

Relief of "arthritis pains, intestinal problems, digestive disorders, kidney stones, high cholesterol, chronic fatigue, asthma, bronchitis, migraine, eczema, headaches, constipation, diabetes, rheumatism, anxiety, dizziness and insomnia. Problems associated with advancing years, such as high blood pressure, poor eye sight, arteriosclerosis and gout may also be helped by Kombucha's anti-aging properties." (http://www.gokombucha.com/health_benefits.html)

I've noticed that the tea is sold in many Food Coops but it is expensive, especially when you can make it at home for the cost of tea bags and sugar. If you don't appreciate the fizzy taste of kombucha you can add fruit juice. A kombucha/juice combination makes it taste something like High-C, or one of the other "fructosed" drinks that is successfully marketed to children. But usually we just add raw ginger to the finished kombucha and let it sit in the refrigerator for a couple days. That's quite a punch!

If you'd like to try making it the process is incredibly simple. However, you need a kombucha mushroom (a mother culture) and preferably some starter tea to get you going. (Contact me and I'll get you some!)
Below: A group of mushrooms; lovely little creatures! With every batch of kombucha they grow and reproduce themselves.

KOMBUCHA RECIPE:


The simple version first:

1.Boil the water.
2. Remove from stove. Dissolve organic sugar in water. Add tea bags and cover. Let the tea steep for half an hour.
3. Remove tea bags and pour into one gallon glass jar (pickle jar). Let cool until water 90 degrees or cooler. I usually do this in the evening so that I can let it cool overnight.
4. Add one mushroom and about 1/2 cup starter .
5. Cover the jar with a coffee filter and rubber band. Basically you want ample air for the fermentation but don't want dust and bugs in the drink.
6. Let it ferment for a week or two. In the summer it will only take a week, in the winter (in Minnesota!) about 2 weeks. **Keep the jar in a dark place. The cupboard is a good place.
7. How do you know it's done? Take a taste test. If it still tastes like black tea then it's not done. If it's fizzy and vinegary, it's done.
8. If it's ready, take out the mushroom and store it in a glass jar in the refrigerator. Make sure and save a cup of starter for the next batch.


Below: A gallon jar of tea. The kombucha mushroom is floating on top.
This is one of my jars of kombucha mushrooms that I keep in the refrigerator. My friends and relatives have generously accepted these mushrooms, or "scobys" in their homes.

A view from the top!
My collection of fermenting kombucha.

This batch is ready for consumption. For a real ZIP add raw ginger. I've also added strawberry pieces or other fruit which ends up tasting a little like sangria. (kinda...)

Concert of Sharon Isbin with Minnesota Orchestra

In September Xavier and I went to a concert of Sharon Isbin (classical guitarist) and the Minnesota Orchestra. My personal favorite is Rodrigo's "Concierto de Aranjuez" (which you are no doubt hearing right now.) We had 3rd row seats and could see the expressions on the faces of the performers. Occasionally Xavier plays the guitar part of this piece and I chime in as the part of the violins (not a very good sound but I love it!) I could listen to this over and over again, so I figured out how to put in on the blog, I hope it doesn't annoy anyone!

I know, I promised...

I have been telling everyone I know that I won't be fostering any more dogs until I sell the house. The constant attention required to tend to a foster dog takes a lot of time away from doing some things that need to be done to prepare the house for potential buyers. My own dogs are pretty civilized and behave themselves most of the time (oh, except for Jota digging in the yard and occasionally peeing on the otoman) but rescue dogs, in most cases, have been through the ringer of street life, and come with a lot of unpredictable behavior. Anyway, that may seem obvious but you don't always remember that aspect when you look into their eyes. Ok, I kept on telling everyone that I was going to be good and work on the house, and I was telling everyone that because I needed to convince myself that that is what I was going to do. (I do that a lot, I realize.) Well, as you can see, I've taken in another litter of puppies and their mom. But, there is a caveat, it's only for a couple weeks and they'll be ready for new homes. Meanwhile, we are enjoying the fun of 6 week old puppies (the BEST time of puppyhood!) There are 6 of them (2 boys, 4 girls) and they look like little cows with their black spots.
The mom's name is Tara (following the Gone With the Wind theme, I'm told) and she is a Treeing Walker Coon Hound**. She's very sweet and came with an orange hunting collar. She was very thin and exhausted when she was picked up in Ramsey and no one claimed her at animal control.

Miss Pittypat























Rhett, above Prissy, right.



***According to AKC standards, the Treeing Walker Coonhound is described by the following:
Qualitative Characteristics
Energetic, intelligent, active, courteous, composed, confident, fearless, kind, graceful in pose and while active. Super abundance of sense, endurance, trailing, hunting and treeing instinct and ability.

Ilana and Jota

Jennifer's baby Ilana visited us some months ago. Here are two videos of Ilana and Jota, as well as a short clip with the puppies that we were fostering at the time.



Ilana and Salem's puppies

Let the kids play!!

I'm stealing another fellow unschooler's blog idea! I came across this video on Kelli's unschooling blog and felt compelled to share it here. Here's a brindis to getting our kids out of a lot of these structured activities and letting them explore the world through play! Heck, while we're at it, we adults need more playtime, too. The highway would be a happier place if people were enjoying the ride.

Every 1st Wednesday of the month...

Every Wednesday Selena and Xavier deliver papers for their routes. Selena uses the money to care for her ferrets. Xavier is paying back a loan from Grandma and Grandpa for his classical guitar. In the case of the paper routes, I am the driver. Generally, the routes take a couple hours each and we pass the time by listening to podcasts from public radio. Well, this is a roundabout way of explaining why I'm never at home on Wednesdays, but by chance, I was at home this month when the civil service sirens went off. We are only within 1/4 of a mile from the Ham Lake siren and the dogs really respond to the blare. Well, yesterday I got Jota's reaction on video for posterity!

Recent Pleasures

Selena and I are in the middle of enjoying the Masterpiece Theater series, "Cranford". For some reasons, which I don't feel like revealing here, we both LOVE these English period pieces. Xavier does not get too enthusiastic about them but he did stick with this one through the first two hours, but then he got tired of it and went back to his guitar and video game. But Selena and I were giggling and sighing through the first half of it. We were having SO much fun last night that we didn't get to bed until midnight. Selena had a full day of classes but had a hard time stopping the VCR and saving the rest for tonight!

Anyway, Cranford is based on three novels of Elizabeth Gaskell. It takes place during a period of intense change in England in the 1840's. Cranford is a small town with a set of interesting, funny and endearing characters. And we LOVE Judi Dench! I'll watch anything in which she appears. Recently we saw Masterpiece Theater's production of Oliver Twist, which was really good, and Xavier really liked it, too.

On a different note, I might add that I am asked at times about how my kids are acquiring knowledge of certain subjects. Well, it's easy to see in this case what kinds of things we are learning by enjoying a film like this and freely talking about it (as opposed to, for example, doing homework for a class on English literature or history, or economics, or, let's see, sociology etc..) If I had forced Selena and Xavier to watch these films and given them follow up questions afterward I'm sure that we wouldn't be enjoying the experience, and thus, learning as many things. The beautiful thing is that I can see it happening right in front of me. This life can be great indeed.

Northern Pine Float

Every year Lino Lakes has a parade and for the past couple years Northern Pine Studios has presented a float. Although Xavier is studying anymore at Northern Pine he was invited to play the banjo on the float. They pretty much stick to Bluegrass so there were banjo, guitar, mandolin and fiddle players.
Our friend Laura joined us for the day. We walked behind the float and passed out candy and brochures about the studio. Although Laura is undergoing kemotherapy she was determined to walk with us this year (last year we were rained out.)

The band is ready to go. Rick Taube (owner of northern Pine) set up a loudspeaker so he could sing as well as project the music out to the crowd.Laura Giefer and Selena. On the 18th (Monday) Selena turns 17 years old!!

Andy Troska, Rick and Xavier are warming up.

Five Dogs in the Kitchen

Tonight our city Ham Lake celebrates the end of the summer with fireworks and a party in the local park. We live only a half mile from said park and can sit outside and watch the fireworks and listen to the music. This evening we decided to stay in and watch the Olympics. For some of you that own dogs you know what I am talking about when I say that fireworks instill terror and drooling in our dogs. Xavier took this photo of me trying to prepare shrimp scampi for supper with a kitchen full of scared dogs. Jota, our Great Dane, poor creature, is terrified of the noise and lights! Apparently he feels much better if he can lean against me or at least touch me. A little rum always helps a little!

And kitty makes nine...

It's been a couple years since we had a healthy, family cat. We've had foster cats but never a cat that decided that we were family. Recently I met "Jack" at a pet adoption day and we hit it off right away. I decided to foster him for awhile to make sure that he would get along with the dogs and (except for Jota, the Dane) they have all done well together. We are still working on convincing Jota that the cat is not a play thing but we are very optimistic that we will be able to work things out between them.

"Jack" has been renamed William or "Billy Bob." He is fearless with the dogs (which is exactly what we needed in a cat) and he is cuddly and affectionate. He is also overweight from sitting in a crate since last November. Unfortunately, this is the fate of many unwanted cats and dogs; they sit in a tiny space waiting for a home. Many times a home never appears and they are euthanized. Not for William.

Crazy for Butterfly Weed...

I LOVE bufferfly weed! I look out across the back yard and I can see 4 or 5 splashes of orange. For the butterfly our suburban lawns are like deserts so I feel really happy to offer this little respite in a sea of scarcity. I tried to smell them but couldn't catch even a tiny scent out of them.
Everything is running late this year. I remember that last 4th of July we already had blooms from the butterfly weed.
Milkweed is very common and will come uninvited. I have a huge stand of it in the back of the yard. I saw 4 chunky Monarch caterpillars a couple days ago but they have already left for the next stage. My photos aren't that great, but, here you have it!

*****Utube Homeschooling Video

Whether you homeschool or unschool you'll be able to relate to this short video. On a daily basis we confront these weird attitudes and assumptions that have nothing to do with the reality of our lives. This video turns that around by harpooning conventional beliefs about education. I kind of "stole" this video from Alex, a fellow unschooler's blog (Thanks! Alex.)

A Day at Duskwind Farm

Yesterday I went up to Pine City to spend the day with my friend Jennifer Peterson on her homestead Duskwind Farm. She and her husband, Chuck, and their daughter Ilana have been living on their new homestead since the end of May. They are in a trailer right now but are building a small house due to be built by November.
Everything has been late this year including the lambs. I was hoping that I'd get to seeing a birth while I was there because two of the sheep were in labor.
Jen and Chuck have a Scottish Highlander cow who calved in early summer. She's quite an impressive cow! She kind of pushes the other cows around, no one wants to be at the other end of those horns. When she wants something (from the other cows) she gets it!





Jennifer and I visited with the sheep and enjoyed watching the lambs. Here Jen is giving a massage to one of the mothers in labor. Jen carries Ilana around in a front carrier.
Lulu is a Jersey mix heifer and is the future family milk cow. She is grass fed and her milk will be consumed raw!

This morning in the library...

It's a lazy Sunday morning and we are all half asleep, enjoying our coffee and watching the dogs lounge around. Skippy Lu seems to be aware of the camera when we pull it out. She almost seems to pose as if she knows she needs to keep still. She and our foster puppy, Franklin (Frankie) are quite fond of each other.
Here is "baby Franklin." He's only 4 months old but is an established member of the pack. His paws are big and he has a lot of loose fur; we're guessing that he'll get to be close to 90 pounds.
A baby profile!!
Skippy Lu and Franklin snuggle on the dog bed.