I can't type and drive at the same time.

It has been CRAZY around here this past few weeks.  Between stirring fudge and driving to the hospital every day, I didn't get much blogging done.  But I did have time to think a lot (dangerous thoughts I'm sure...) and to read quite a bit.  I'm going to post my way through those thoughts and get back to my exploration of sustainability and agriculture. 

We are about through the Christmas rush on fudge.  It has been a good year for our little farm business.  There is still time to get fudge if you really want it (follow the link from our store page.)  Orders done this week should get anywhere in the U.S. before Christmas.  We will be gearing up for Valentines day after the New Year.

The past few weeks I've read

• World Made By Hand by J.H. Kunstler (This one made me think A LOT! you should read it.)
• Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingslover (another thinker!  Still sorting out my thoughts on this one.)
• Dissent in America by Ralph Young (WOW!  )
• Authentic Patriotism by Stephen Kiernan (still thinking about this one...)

Right now I'm reading Noise by Bart Kosko (the "quintessential scientific cyber-punk - a prophet of the information age."  I'm liking it, but not as much as Fuzzy Thinking which everyone should have to read...)  So, what are you all reading?

Now I must end.  The kids want their sleds (we have 4 inches of snow...), the dogs need to go out (2 indoor dogs now...more on that later), and the fire needs stoking (it is 17 and windy out.  Staying warm is a priority, and a lot of work.)

Magic

Books are a kind of magic for me.  (yes, I'm going to finish my book page this week....)

I have several friends who use e-book readers like Kindle. I understand why, and am even attracted to the idea (techno - junky that I am...), but there is no magic in a virtual book.

Here's what I mean...

A couple of month ago I went to the library.  I looked at all the new books and found nothing.  So I walked the stacks.  (this is my problem with virtual books, I can't wander through the virtual stacks and smell, feel, touch the books.) I'm not looking for anything in particular, just looking at all the books to see if something sparks.  As I wander among the shelves, scanning titles, colors, designs, a book literally jumps of the shelf.  (This has happened often enough that I almost expect it and I always pay attention to the book.)  The book that jumped out at me was "What we leave behind" by Derrick Jensen.  I checked it out.  At home I started reading.  Interesting ideas, didn't like the writing style (two writers switching back and forth telling somewhat different stories.)  The ideas were intriguing but not that new to me.  I was about to give up, disappointed at the magic (which usually doesn't turn up a dud) when I noticed a reference to another book by D Jensen.  I returned "What We Leave Behind" and checked out Endgame v. 1 & 2.  They really sparked.  Challenged my thinking, fired me up.  That led to "Walking on Water" which I totally enjoyed and have read twice now.  Still some ideas I'm processing.  Then I went looking for other books and Derrick's site led me to Lierre Keith.  Her book, "The Vegetarian Myth" is the one my super-conscious mind was really looking for.  WOW.  I'm going back through it now, trying to process (I've even put out a call to some great thinkers to help me with this... )  I'll be adding this book to my list soon, but I'm not quite ready to write about it yet.

Anyway, back to magic.  For me, it always works.  It works with people too.  But I can't force it.  The universe (or god, or what ever) brings those things/people/ideas to me when I am ready.  The ones I don't miss have had a profound impact on my thoughts and on my life.  I do wonder about the ones I missed because I wasn't paying attention...

How do you choose books?

Books that shaped me

A few weeks ago I started working on a page listing and reviewing some of the books that have shaped my thinking.  You can find the Books tab under the header now. I'm not anywhere close to finished.  It is a slow process.  I want to at least skim back through the book before I write about it.  They still seem to grab my attention and skimming becomes rereading.  I'm enjoying the process and learning new things, but it has slowed my progress considerably. 

Take a look at the page.  It will change as I get more reading and writing done.  The list isn't close to finished yet.

What books have shaped your thinking about ecology, food, farming, etc?

The Boat

We built a boat this summer.  It's called a Mouse.  It is 8 feet long and made from 1 and 1/2 sheets of 1/4 inch luan plywood.  We got the plans from the book Ultrasimple Boatbuilding by Gavin Atkin.  It was easy and the boat is awsome!  We will be building more.  (one isn't enough for 4 people...)  Here's how it went for us.

This is the book we used. 

In School - JJ's science fair project

The other day I brought home a book from the library. It's called The Earth Moved by Amy Stewart. It's about earthworms. I've enjoyed Amy's blog Garden Rant, and thought I might find some ideas and inspiration in her book. I'd brought the book home intending to start it as soon as I finished my current book. But JJ stole it, and hasn't put it down. We seem to have a budding oligochaetologist in the family. Next thing I knew she was planning a worm composting project for the science fair, ordering 1000 worms, and writing posts for the farm blog. Here's what she has to say today.


Worm Scientists
(Oligochaetologist)
Need Support


The past few days I’ve been interested in worms. The other day I was reading a book about earthworms and I found out that worm scientists aren’t getting very much popular support. The scientists were surprised to find that many people were not as interested in worms as they were. I think that the scientists aren’t getting enough support because not many people realize how important worms are and what they do for our environment. Worms may not be as pretty birds, butterflies, or bees but the birds wouldn’t have the seeds they like and the butterflies and bees wouldn’t have their nectar if the soil wasn’t good for plants like flowers and trees. The worms that we may think of as slimy pests actually do a lot to help our environment. So if we support our worm scientists then instead of feeling down when they discover something because besides them nobody else seems to care they will feel happy and excited because they know that everyone else is too. All we have to do is support them.

We will post updates about the science fair as things progress over the next month.

Design Inspiration

I got my Potager Design book this past weekend. I love it. Being of a philosophical bent (or at least philosophically bent) I'm finding the exploration of the history and philosophy behind potagers quite interesting. I also like the great photos and the exploration of ways to adapt the ideas to the realities of a modern, suburban home. I tried to get it from my library, but could only find it on inter library loan (which isn't a good option for me, not enough time to really digest the ideas.) So, I bought it. I haven't bought any garden books in quite a while. My library is quite stuffed already. This one seems to be worth the cost.

Check it out.

escaping from exile

Finally it is finished. What a good book! The only one in the collection of Ender books that didn't blow me away was Children of the Mind, and I still read it cover to cover in one sitting. Can't do that anymore, so books like this are only allowed in the house on a very limited basis. It did consume all of my "spare" time, meaning that the other spare time activities, like keeping up with my blog, or reading all the great posts on my blog reader, didn't get done. Still, it was worth it. If you don't know Orson Scott Card's Ender series, you should check them out! If you are not a SciFi fan don't be put off. These are books about people. The setting is very much a background thing. (wonder if i get a commission for promoting his books?) Now I'm free again, at least until the next OSC, or TP or CdeL book comes out, these are the novels that eat up all my free moments.

Our pony has settled in nicely. We are through most of the "who's the boss" antics, and starting to see some real responsiveness. She seems to like being out on pasture with a herd, and loves all the brushing, hoof care, and treats the kids give her. I have a line on a pony saddle and some harness tack that might fit her. I want to see what she can do and improve her condition a bit, but I don't want to push too hard with her approaching her last trimester. (What we'll do with another useless pony is a whole other nightmare.)

It looks like we can call the election at this point. There are less that 10 minutes left to vote (hurry and screw up my counts!) and the counts stand as follows: Brigid 8, Alan's Folly 3, Wishes 2, Dreama 1. Thanks for participating in our little foray into the democratic process. Official results will be posted tomorrow.

A few nice rains in Oct and great weather through the first part of Nov have given the grass a bit of a boost. We are now down to about three days of grazing before we start on the lawn. If I can keep the cows off the lawn that would be a good thing, but the rest of the mob will do a rotation around the house and the "formal" areas. Should make it to the end of the month. This is where we were at the beginning of January last year, but the eight weeks of no rain starting in June really messed up the grazing.

The barn is starting to fill up with hay. I ordered it early, when I knew we were in trouble, but I wasn't ready to pick it up, and the grower wasn't ready to deliver. Now it is starting to happen.

The weather was lovely and cold this morning. It's funny, the kids will fight me when I try to get them to go out, but if you put a skiff of snow on the ground they want to be out in it all day. Weird.
Snow!