bullwinkle by morning

Posted on May 28, 2015 by Kim Halloran-Fry

Yesterday morning began like most mornings do. Coffee was brewed, breakfast made, lunches packed, and people sent off to work and summer football practice. I was giving myself the celebratory pat on the back (you know, go Self! They are fed. They are packed. They are launched into their day and it isn't even 8am!) when I thought I saw something move back behind the trees. The thing I thought I saw was a pony. There is no logical reason for this other than once upon a very long time ago we had such a pony. That pony never scaled the side of a mountain however. And that didn't happen yesterday either.

Nope.

Much as it may have looked like a pony bum for a minute there, it was not a pony in my yard. It was a…..

MOOSE!

oh.my.word.

It was a gosh honest truth, real live MOOSE and it was just meandering around the yard nibbling on trees til it got full and decided right there would be a perfect place to….

…sit a spell.

In my YARD, y'all.

And there he sat for the better part of the morning, with us periodically peeking out at him til he up and wandered off, all casual like. As if this sort of thing just happens.

Our neighbors said they spot one every once in a blue moon and generally they don't cause trouble. We watched from a safe distance just the same. Moose are prey, not predators, but they can reach speeds of 35mph when they are defending their young or during mating season (in the fall) or say, when the neighbor Corgi tries to herd them and they get super annoyed.

They sound like a cow which we didn't know until later in the evening when he returned and made actual cow sounds. Our neighbor texted me from her porch. We couldn't see at first in the dark until she said he was over eating our apple tree. This enlightened us to two things. First, we have an apple tree. Who knew? Second, we probably shouldn't count on a lot of apples.

He has made one more appearance so far, chasing the aforementioned Corgi back to her porch early this morning. To be fair she sorta had it coming. By all accounts this doesn't happen very often so this may be our only opportunity to see such a magnificent creature so close. Still, I will probably look over to the hillside in the mornings just in case…

Rainy May – lots of links – sort of Daybook

Posted on May 20, 2015 by Kim Halloran-Fry

Outside: Rain. A whole bunch. It doesn't look much different outside my window today than it did outside my window last year this time.

Listening to: Simon and Garfunkel. A lot. Because…Simon and Garfunkel.

Thinking about: "Slow down, you're moving too fast. Got to make the moment last." (see above) Which reminded me a lot of this article about The Sacred Inefficiencies of Life and where productivity sometimes runs right up against being present and connected.

Creating: A beautiful (with luck!) command center for household tasks. Need some ideas? I have my favorites pinned here. Will be back to update on which we chose.

Reading: So much. First, friends had shared a few weeks ago about Pioneer Girl

It was out of stock at the time and approaching scalper pricing so I put it out of mind for a bit though it was super intriguing. Then this showed up at my door courtesy of my friend Heather whom we roadtripped with to Bath lo these many years back now.

When they say "annotated" they are not kidding. There are footnotes of biblical proportions. Like, for real, there are as many footnotes as lines of story on many pages and surprisingly they are just as interesting as the main text.

Around the house: Some people are still struggling to recall where stuff goes in the new house. All the people, actually. They say it takes three months to form a new habit. Meantime….

While getting familiar with a new American house is a challenge at times we had to laugh at this tutorial BBC put out on British houses. Oh I get homesick.

In other news I found the living room curtain panels and they ended up being not quite right since one side of the living room is a bit sunken. When going through my picture files I found a snap from Hancock Fabrics. At least I hope that's where it was. It may have been Joann's which will mean two trips to figure out but either way I am leaning towards something in this family…

From the learning room: Ok there isn't a learning room per se at the moment, though every day sees it coming together a bit more. We are still learning, however, and thinking about learning and planning the coming school year's learning. I have also been thinking with gratitude about my teaching mentors over the years after we read this article from last fall which led to the discovery the US Dept of Ed reported that over the course of one recent school year over 37,000 children were restrained in this way. This all got me thinking, "What would Marva Collins do?" If you can't answer that then spend the penny on Amazon and be inspired.

Same team, y'all.

We are all on the same team. : ) On that note I read Janet Lansbury's sample dialogs when facing potential confrontation of wills. How differently these scenarios can play out.

"Let the morning time drop all its petals on me.
Life, I love you…"

– Simon and Garfunkel

digging in

Posted on May 19, 2015 by Kim Halloran-Fry

This last week's adventures included weeding, painting, beginning to repair the gas-fueled fire pit and a crash course in cactus 101 – which I'm gonna venture to say was nearly as unpleasant for the person removing as it was for the afflicted.

A dear friend sent a box full of perennial cuttings which have found new homes here in the mountain west. It has rained and rained and they seem to be taking root right along with us.

The boys have begun their yard care apprenticeship. Really, we all have. It's been a while since we have had a garden of our own to tend. (We had a most fabulous garden in England but it had been cultivated and maintained by the farm over many generations, so we just had to not wreck it.) We are being realistic when planning summer to include plenty of time to work on all this. It's a good thing. We are back to falling into bed at night zonked and waking up to full new days.

I love seeing my guys wearing work gloves again. : )

Bedroom makeover

Posted on May 14, 2015 by Kim Halloran-Fry

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity. We have been making over several rooms in the house that were not yet updated or not recently anyway. It is easier to paint before furniture is placed so we just gunned it and tore into several rooms.

Some of these rooms are repainted now but not completely "done" so I haven't posted updates yet. I figured what the heck though. Home improvement for most of us normal joe's happens in increments, right? Especially when you are working on several spaces. So with that in mind here is one girl's room before:

Last updated in the 90's I am guesstimating based upon when sponge painting hit its heyday. The room looked a bit dingy and we were moving white furniture in. Not to mention these walls are listed as some of the top offenders for resale. Unless you are us, looks like. The carpet is relatively new and it wasn't in the budget to replace. We decided on a latte color which took a couple tries to nail down tint wise. It made the room much cleaner and brighter and tied in fine with the flooring.

(Moving the furniture in)

Alannah and I managed this room ourselves since Moira and her Dad were taking down wallpaper in her room at the same time. We were so happy with the after. Window treatments will happen next (we are recycling panels from our last house) but meantime it's the perfect space to cuddle with your big sister.

Painting gets filed under "things that are much easier with older children in the house." The last time I painted a room was many moons ago back at the ranch. 8yrs? More? Suffice it to say, it takes way longer with babies and toddlers. Way. waywaywaywayway

Pantry made pretty

Posted on May 12, 2015 by Kim Halloran-Fry

There was just a shallow pantry in this kitchen with a bifold door so we have been brainstorming how best to store food. Husband suggested we use a nearby coat closet and brought in some shelving. I have been surprised but so far we have not needed it. We have an extra fridge and it seems most of what we eat is fresh or frozen these days. We did have a major need for some logical spice, herb and seasoning storage. I purchased a couple dozen adhesive backed spice clips and we repurposed a white upright cabinet that had been left in the garage. It is housing the spices and some pantry overflow now.

In the pantry I repurposed the many many half gallon jars we used to have for our goatdairy back in the day. I am a little in love with chalkboard labels. (read: I want to label EVERYTHING) If you are interested in stocking a paleo pantry, this article sums up perfectly. As you can see we are a little bit traditional and a little bit pa-le-oooo. Sung to the tune of Donny and Marie. Oh never mind. My references are increasingly obsolete ; )

*pardon the iphone pics pleaseandthankyou

Hope Changes Everything

Posted on May 11, 2015 by Kim Halloran-Fry

The better part of my life has now been spent mothering. It has done every bit as much for me, and then some, as what I have put into it over the years. It shaped me, stretched me, grown me and pulled me out of myself in ways I could only have imagined. It has asked more of me than I thought I had to give at times. The return on that investment has been more than a Hallmark holiday could ever begin to equal.

It is a big job, mothering, one that can't be done alone. So this weekend our community came together to help gather resources for mothers in need. There were church leaders and housewives, grandma's and teens, strollers and wheelchairs, those with name brand running shoes and those leaning on canes, all walking, with steps big and small to raise money for local mama's and their beautiful babies.

Because life is just beautiful, in all its fabulous, messy, unpredictable splendor.

"Where there is life, there is hope."

And hope changes everything

Story Stretchers – Joseph Had a Little Overcoat

Posted on May 8, 2015 by Kim Halloran-Fry

Years ago when our adult sons were small we had a couple volumes called Story Stretchers. (here and here – they are a PENNY today. Still find that stunning. I saved so long to buy books pre-amazon days) Like the outstanding Five in a Row volumes that would come later they took a children's book and created activities based on the story's location or language or illustrations. We haven't done full-out units in a while but I always find some element in a story we can build on a little. Once you work through Five in a Row you just start to see all sorts of potential rabbit trails inside a book.

We read Joseph Had a Little Overcoat last week. I love this book and like the best picture books there is so much happening in the illustrations that goes over children's heads but is totally engrossing for the grown-up reading. Shortly after we got the book the little girls ran through the knees of a couple pair of leggings. This is a rather regular event. Tough girls, we have. Before we tossed them we talked about Joseph and looked to see if there was potentially some more life in them.

Cotton knit headbands are a favorite of Tess and Alannah right now since they don't pinch behind the ears and can hold back heavy hair. (and don't crack in half when small people overextend them…) When I looked at them they were seriously just a tube of t-shirting. For a dollar or two a piece? So before tossing the trashed leggings we cut a tube off across the tops between the waistband and legs. Quick work to turn right sides together and sew a seam, leaving a bit for turning. You don't really even have to bother with a seam if you fold the band when you put it on or cut it into a strip and tie it instead.

Not the world's most glamorous tute. Just a little practical 'stretcher.'

these came from pants like these…

Now if someone can point me to some girl proof leggings I'd be a happy woman. : )

transplants

Posted on May 7, 2015 by Kim Halloran-Fry

It is a habit of our family's that soon after we move in, we plant flowers in our front yard someplace, maybe just a pot or two or maybe a small bed. Thinking back on many other moves, most of which were in warm months, it seems this is a ritual of ours. It is a sure sign that we are home again and this place belongs to us. Over the years we have developed several such moving routines that help us pick up our lives and set them down again someplace entirely new.

About the time I was mulling all that over I read a wonderful essay from Homemaker's Mentor about this very thing which asks Is Your Home a Daylily or an Oak? The oak stands for years in one spot, rooted, solid, firm. Daylilies grow and spread and then are often transplanted to new spots to once again bloom and brighten a space. The trick to any transplanting project is to minimize trauma to the root system. Using this analogy the author offers some really helpful tips for smooth transitions.

I particularly love her reflections about the stages of a new home. Year one feelings, year two, and year three. They are each different from each other but predictably similar every time. A dear friend of mine, a master gardener, used to say of her perennials, "First year they sleep, second they creep, third they leap." This is very like our own relocation experiences. That first year is spent figuring out the new place, finding doctors and sports teams and favorite shopping spots. The second year we spread our wings more and begin to have some familiarity with local events. We recognize faces when we are out and no longer need our GPS for every outing. That third year we really have hit our stride and begin to branch out comfortably in our new community. We feel settled. Home. And reality is, this is usually when it is time for us to prepare to do it all over again so it's vital that we develop ways to do it as painlessly as possible.

As suggested, we have been working diligently to set up kitchen, living areas, and bedrooms so we can get everyone settled into familiar patterns sooner vs later. We still have work to do, however our days are already beginning to look like our May days always have. We cook, we study, we take walks, we plant flowers, and then yes, we work on the house.

Things are still very new here. We are still getting to know our way around this house, figuring out the best places for things and then remembering where those are. A home is made through a series of little steps like this one. Day by day we become better friends with this place and wake up a bit more comfortable than the morning before. Everyday there is a little something more tying us here – flowers to water, a life to cultivate.

remembering

Posted on May 6, 2015 by Kim Halloran-Fry

It has been one year since Joyce died. Her husband posted some thoughts on Facebook today and invited those who knew her to share what they remembered for those who did not. Although we were blessed to get together with her family when we moved here last month it had been 20 yrs since Joyce and I had seen each other in the church basement where our homeschool group met. In the years that would follow we watched each other's families grow (and grow and grow ; )) through the exchange of Christmas letters and pictures. Our Air Force paths would not cross again in person though. So why is it that even now, it is hard to mention her without getting choked up?

Jeff asked us for a special memory. My most vivid memories are of an early 30-something Joyce, a young mother in Ohio with children nearly the same age as my own at the time. She was 6yrs older than I and a lifetime ahead in spiritual maturity. She was solid and peaceful in her faith, but not the least bit somber or stodgy. I, on the other hand, was a whirlwind of emotion, newly returned to the Church, new to homeschooling, new to raising a family, and questioning pretty much every step of the way.

What I remember is that my questions, challenges often, did not phase her. If I was exasperating (and I had to have been at times) she never let on. Her tone of voice remained calmly confident and cheerful. Her patience was unending and contagious. It just felt good to be nearby and I hoped to absorb some of that serenity by osmosis.

One conversation has been played back in my mind over and over through the years. We were discussing difficult medical/parenting choices. I was tied up in knots over the particular issue we were debating, in so typically me fashion, worried and frantic to make the right decisions that would ensure nothing bad would happen.

Ever.

Joyce, even then, seemed to have a keenly developed resignation to Divine Will. Her final take on the subject that day was that sometimes, "We pray, we sprinkle holy water over them, and we act." Just like that. Even in the absence of those impossible assurances I so desperately wanted. Over the years, with much more reading and meditation, I realized what she was communicating to me that day was that the very best we can do for our families is to commit them to the safe-keeping of the Father who created them and then to know, really know in our hearts, that whatever happens next is for our salvation and theirs. To really, truly know that He is a loving Father and can be trusted no matter what the circumstances may look like.

What I remember is that she was not a hand-wringer. Her's was not a trust borne from ease or naiveté, however. When struggle came she did not shrink. This did not surprise me in the least. When I caught up with Joyce on Facebook in the fall of 2013 her fight against a rare cancer was advanced. Her letters were still joyful, yet she was clear that she was on borrowed time and had no more answers for the burning questions we all had for her life then than she had had during our discussion years before. No one knew for sure, ultimately. Still, she had every bit as much unwaivering peace with and resignation to the will of God, however it played out.

As a mom of ten now, I know what that kind of confidence would require of a woman. I know the type of faith and discipline it would have to take to leave in God's hands the children and husband He gave you. I am not sure I have that yet. I still struggle with my white-knuckled grip on the illusion of control. Daily, though, I remember her example and strive hard to meet the challenges of my life with some portion of that grace, to make not only my words but my life reflect an abiding trust in my Savior.

What does that look like? What would a trust like that look like on a busy morning, after a deep disappointment, during a difficult move, or when receiving a sober diagnosis? This is the question Joyce's life asks of mine. Answering it is the challenge I will live out.

If you read this, please say a prayer for the repose of her brave, bright soul and remember her beautiful family in your prayers.

The Weekly Cookup

Posted on May 5, 2015 by Kim Halloran-Fry

Alannah and I worked side by side this weekend on our respective weekly cookups. If you haven't read Well Fed Paleo this is where you get as much food prepped as you can in one fell swoop, making quick work of the rest of your week's cooking. Or in my case, at least make some of the rest of the week's cooking quicker work.

This isn't making whole meals ahead but rather doing prep work like browning ground meat, chopping and peeling, steaming vegs for sautees, making smoothies and so on. (curious? check out a cookup plan here)

I had made extra turkey and pork sausage for breakfast Saturday morning. To that leftover meat I added some steamed greens, leftover chopped vegs from stir fry, a handful of flaxseed, and a dozen eggs and made breakfast muffins. No recipe. Just a bit of Adobe seasoning to the above and into the oven til set. (I toss leftover vegs etc in the freezer for soup and frittatas.)

Alannah made a stuffed pork tenderloin from this magazine, then sliced and froze it for her lunches. She will do another main dish every several days and the variety will increase. She also made up a double batch of mocha/veg/yogurt smoothie from the same volume and froze it in ice cube trays. It's a grab and go breakfast if you toss it into a smoothie cup and let it defrost.

I pulled out two chicken carcasses from a chicken roast and made a meaty bone broth. Then prepped a bajillion veggies for juicing etc. I divvied up vegs into baggies for husband's lunch. Also had a can of rice noodles which isn't a health food but adds crunch to salad. Divvied that up into snack baggies to toss into lunch boxes too.

Husband meantime made burgers on the grill because you do NOT want to make another thing after a weekly cookup. You're done. Out. Finis. He made up a load of chicken legs as well. Some went into lunches and some was chopped for dinner tonight.

We are working on our new routines like this in the new house – assigning laundry days, getting back on track with meals, finishing up the school year (Amazingly they are almost there and maintaining their A averages. Go kids! I am taking note of this fact to remind myself when I am tempted by new curriculum…) and wading through boxes.

With so much to do we can't afford NOT to do a weekly cookup. It is easy to let diet go when you are pressed from all sides but the time to compromise is not when you are asking more of your body.

Starry Sky Journal

Reflections from Starry Sky Ranch

Monthly Archives: May 2015