The Rest of the Story

 Just to be completely honest, I must report on the fate of the final 4 meat chickens that were not large enough to butcher with the rest of the batch....

I gave them away.

It's true.  I could not bring myself to re enact the whole circle of life thing again this season.  Once a year, only.

Just confessing, thanks.

Domestic Goddess

I amaze myself sometimes.  I just got done canning 51 quarts of peaches (the things I do while Mr. Bechtel is gone)  My saintly friend came and helped me for a few hours and then my mom came over and we did some of her peaches and then forging ahead canned some tomatoes.

Georgeous, huh?  Those people who can dozens of bottles nonchalantly will not appreciate this, but anyone who knows me will know this is a major accomplishment.

So, yes, I am bragging for just a minute.  Forgive me please!

Star Valley Ranch

Our friends own a ranch over in Wyoming where all your dreams come true!  (I was always going to marry a cowboy from Tensleep, Wyoming, have a dozen boys, and live in the shadow of the Tetons....  ---- I'd be happy with the last one, maybe cut the middle one by half, and I'm quite satisfied with where my real cowboy comes from.)

ANYWAY, so MY REAL COWBOY is in JAPAN so the kids and I went over to Wyoming on Saturday.  It was the last hurrah of summer and we had a great time.

The ranch house is a perfectly ingenious design.  Overhead are dual lofts that can sleep 14 to a side.  The 4 tables in the kitchen can fold up against the wall for dances and the kitchen island pulls out to a 20 foot salad bar.  "Come and get it!"

Outside there is a large stage complete with lighting, 6 adorable sheep camps, and a perfect fishing pond complete with paddle boat.  

This is all heaven for children.  I'm going to enjoy these pictures in February.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Mustard Pickle

Mustard Pickle is a family tradition.  My Grandma used to make it all the time.  And growing up, our sunday dinner roast wasn't complete without a little mustard pickle on the side.  I decided to continue the tradition by making some for our sunday dinners.  I was even happier when I realized I could get all the ingredients, except cauliflower, from my own garden.

I think Grandpa would be proud.

Political Commentary

Family History Comes Alive

When I read stories about pioneers or life sketches of my ancestors,  I am usually vaguely dissatisfied at the end because the people seem two dimensional to me.  I want to know the rest of the story, not just the bare facts.

Well, my brother has come to the rescue!  (enter Superman music...) 

 He has been putting family history stories into booklet form and publishing them for the members of our family.  Each story comes with carefully researched photos from the time period and lots of neat additional information to give an overall picture of the era.  Since he's a writer by trade, his story line makes great reading.

 I've known about my Great-Grandpa, "Whit", and how he served in World War One, but he wasn't real to me until I read this booklet.  I learned he was to go to the forests of France to cut lumber for the army, but on the journey over they were hit by a uboat.  Many of the men were killed, but my Great Grandpa was miraculously saved.  

Clark finishes the story by saying, "As for Whit, he and the rest of the Engineers finally did make it to log the forests around Castets, France, where they were stationed for the remainder of the war.  The unit returned to New York on May 23, 1919.  On seeing the Statue of LIverty, facing the incoming ships, one lumberjack was heard to remark, "She'll have to turn around if she ever sees me again."

That proved to be true for Grandpa.  He returned home to Sugar City, Idaho, where he married Vera and raised a family of six children, never setting foot on a ship again."

Keep 'em coming, Clark!

Checking out Smilebox

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Finding Joy

Tasha Tudor is one of my favorite authors, gardening gurus, self reliant persons, etc. etc.  So when Cocoa "assigned" (just like homework, huh?) the topic of Joy, I immediately thought of Tasha Tudor and her Take Joy video.

Tasha says that her life's work and focus is based on one quote by Henry David Thoreau:

"If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."

She built an old fashioned house in the hills of Vermont and lived the way she wanted to live.

I can drool over pictures of her gardens for hours.  In fact, she has a whole section in her gardening book on her crabapple orchard, which inspired our farm's name.  (well, that and reading Trixie Belden when I was little...)

So here are a few of my favorite Tasha Tudor quotes on three things that bring me joy; canoeing, being outdoors with my family, and being a "housewife."

"There's something wonderfully primitive about a canoe, like the sounds of loons calling."

"Oh it was wonderful!  We used to take picnics and have a bonfire and make tea.  It was so much better than sitting in a classroom!"

"I enjoy doing housework... whenever I get one of those questionnaires and they ask what is your profession, I always put down housewife.  It's an admirable profession - why apologize for it?  You aren't stupid because you're a housewife.  When you're stirring the jam you can read Shakespeare. 

Next time you're at the library check out the Tasha Tudor section and let me know what you think.

Conversations on School

Do your children like public school?  If they do, pat yourself on the back and hope that your life always continues in this blissful state.  For some reason (not, I'm sure, that neither Mr. Bechtel or myself care for it) none of my children like school. 

 I think part of the problem stems from introducing our oldest son, Braeburn, to C. S. Lewis at an early age.  Not only did we get The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe with this introduction, but we also got Lewis' views on his schooling experience as a child, which did not help Braeburn's outlook on formal schooling.

So this is the conversation I heard (and interrupted)  while running errands last week with Braeburn and Granny Smith:  

Braeburn:  "So, do you like 1st Grade, Granny Smith?"

Granny Smith:  "NO"

B:  "Well, you know that in 1st grade, school is not important, and you don't need to do all that dumb stuff"

MOM:  "Braeburn!  (hissing through smiling lips) that is just an opinion.  Some people like school.  Let Granny Smith make up his own mind."

B:  "So we should lie to little kids about what school is really like?"

long pause, then..

B:  " So, Granny Smith, did you know that the moon is really made of blue cheese?"

So, what do you do when your kids don't like school, and when you homeschool you feel like you're losing your mind?  I don't know.  I'm open for suggestions.