What's been going on then?

We've had some nice weather



I enjoy comparing to how crap the weather is back home. A good gloat now and then can't do harm.

We're been sick, but determined not to let it completely get us down. So in the past couple of days we've been outdoors, planting seeds, flying kites, playing games, having picnics, building planters,



dying eggs (which Zoe then ate when we weren't looking!), swinging, riding bikes (the kids anyway), going for walks and having fun.

I wanted to update on the Clindamycin situation. Thanks so much for all your advice. We figured out something that works. Thankfully, Turtle is the most incredibly sweet natured boy so this really works. I start with one fork with a tiny bit of peanut butter and the pudding on it, no medicine and tell him, "this is the yummy one". He takes it enthusiastically. Then I layer one big spoon with peanut butter, then pudding, then empty the entire capsule on it, then cover it again with pudding and a couple dods of peanut butter on the tip. I am honest and say, "now here's the yucky one, open up nice and big". He cringes and opens up, sometimes I have to help him open it wider, but he takes it. He saves it in his mouth for a while before he can bring himself to swallow. You can see him shudder a couple of times.




I give him loads of praise and he dances to it and feels dead chuffed. He then sucks his other medication down as though it were sweet honey, in desperation to remove the flavor. So it's working, it's not pleasant, but he's taking his doses.

I wanted to share a funny from Zoe this morning. She heard us singing, "our God is a great big God" and joined in, "Our God is a zing bing bong". She couldn't tell what we were singing.



We're had some awesome conversations about grace. I love how my Uncle Fred explained it once, that in a system of law if you do something right you awe rewarded. If you do something wrong you are punished. Jesus died and flipped it. You do something wrong you are rewarded, and if you are righteous you are punished. Well, only one has ever been 100% right, blameless, and he was punished to initiate this system of grace. So now, even though we mess up and do things wrong, we are rewarded! Rewarded with unconditional love, with comfort, heaven, with forgiveness. It's mind blowing. Of course, it doesn't mean we sin more to gain more reward. The reward is already ours to claim. My kids are so wise, they say things that really get me thinking and they grasp spiritual concepts so easily. I remember how it was before my mind got clouded with grown up stuff. I want to be more like that again.


I'm loving this time of year. I'm coming out of hibernation and coming alive again. I'm ready to move and groove and shake it up a bit. Hibernation is great and all, but time moves strangely in the house. It's hard to tell one day from another. You lay down in bed and it feels like you were just there a moment ago, though at the time it had seemed like a really long day. You get sucked in and the longer you stay in the harder it is to ever leave. But then the grass turns green and the birds sing and you swear one of them said your name, so you do leave and you're so glad you did. We're waiting for Turtle to be done with his meds and then we're going to go camping, baby. Any suggestions for vegetarian camping food would be much appreciated.

Happy Spring everybody. And Happy Easter. Celebrate the weather, celebrate the awesome new system of grace. It's all good.

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How does your garden grow

I thought I'd give a quick update on the garden. My container garden is doing ok, but I haven't put as much in it as I had thought I would .

My allotment garden is...I dunno. I have mixed feelings about it.

Last weekend I was ready to give it up completely. It was 100 degrees outside, I hadn't tended to it in a week and I went there after skipping my meal and not drinking enough fluids. I was dizzy, dripping with sweat, it was in my eyes and my clothes were drenched, I was being eaten alive by mosquitoes, there were more weeds than I could handle and my only tool (a hand shovel) snapped. So I had to use my hands and my finger nails broke and started bleeding. I decided I didn't want a stupid garden any more.

I drove home and almost passed out on the way. Got home to the air conditioning, a cool shower and a big drink of water.

I am still very overwhelmed with the weeding. But I am excited that my garden has started producing now, and it changes my opinion. We've brought in more turnips than we could dream of eating. And tonight I just brought home 2 huge, fat zucchinis and some sugar snap peas. I have tomatoes looking big and fat, though still green. And bean stalks flowering. Some nice tall carrot tops. I'm looking forward to more food from it.





I am totally learning as I go along. I will do tons differently next year. But, I'm doing ok. And it's so exciting to pick your own food. I've grown everything from seed, and there's something magical about growing food from something so tiny.


Anyway, sorry this was a boring post. I wanted to write something down about it though.


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We're off to coco keys water resort in the morning, to celebrate Lana's birthday (her actual birthday is on Monday).

We went there a year and a half ago, for Zoe's first birthday. I wonder if we'll see Mr Butt Crack there again.

Plenty on my to do list between now and then so I'd better shot down the lap top.

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How to make a self watering container

I've read that a self watering container is best for growing vegetables in, because they can take as much water as they want, when they want, so less risk of over or underwatering. It's also less maintenance for the gardener, as they don't require watering every day.

But they can be pretty pricey. We bought 2 medium sized self-watering containers for $10 each, and that was as cheap as we had seen them. We were going to need more than that but were about out of money. So we decided to make our own, cheaply.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED





A regular plant pot or tub
putty
scrap fabric
scissors
a smaller tub for insert/reservoir - make sure it fits the bottom of your tub without leaks in the sides
A piece of piping, or you could use an empty plastic bottle


1st
Fill in any drainage holes in the pot. You can use putty or line with a bag etc.


2nd
Poke holes in the insert/smaller tub.


3rd
Cut up strip of fabric and thread them through the holes in the insert. These will act as the wic, to suck up water from the reservoir.




4th
Cut up piping, or plastic bottle. We will be using this to fill the reservoir with water, every few days.



5th
Cut a hole in the insert, to place the piping.



6th
Place insert in pot, make sure there are no gaps.







7th
Have your kids help you if you want. They come in handy for that.





8th
Try to stop your 7 month old from ingesting too many microbes





9th
Fill with dirt, plant your plants. Water from above once, then fill the reservoir. From now on, only water from the pipe.

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Babies just grow

So, I've mentioned before that we're trying a container garden this year, in addition to our allotment for growing in the ground.

I've been reading about all the things that can go wrong, and have observed through trial and error many ways NOT to do things. So far most of my seedlings are doing ok and a bunch of them are in their new homes, in larger containers. I've also had a few sad losses along the way.

It is labor intensive. I have the grow light running, I'm checking for moisture and hand picking bugs ever day, I'm picking out grass growing where we don't want it to grow (D'oh, I put hay in the composter. It obviously had grass seeds. Ugh.), I'm training plants to grow certain ways, rotating containers when they lean towards the sun, so their roots will strengthen. It's a lot of work.

A couple weeks back I walked into Kaya's room. She rarely opens her blinds, and her room is rather dark. She had this pot in her room, which had sat outside all winter after a tomato plant died in it and we hadn't cleaned it out or sterilized the soil. The soil was compacted inside, and very dry. It hadn't been watered. But Kaya had stuck an avacado seed inside. From a fruit we had bought at the grocery store, she kept it, I think soaked it for a day or so, then stuck it in this pot. It sat, dry. In the dark. And it grew.



It's looking beautiful now. And I must admit I've been quite amazed that out of such a dire looking environment, something beautiful can grow.



And it got me thinking about how somehow food has always grown, with or without the farmer. God designed nature such that it will reproduce, it will grow. We may have found ways to dabble with it and stick our hands in and make it produce more than it would naturally, or with a more desirable product (but sometimes with consequence or high cost), but it will grow without us.


And it reminded me of something I was told back in 2001, when I was a brand new, full of pride and joy and nerves and fear, mother of my first newborn daughter. I so wanted to be the best for her, but I really didn't know what I was doing. or I assumed I didn't. I took her faithfully to the mother and baby clinic, every single week, to be weighed. Because that's what you're supposed to do, right? To be a good mum....right?

One week my health visitor smiled at me and said, "You are absolutely welcome to come here every week, but you know you don't have to. Your baby is thriving. The weigh ins are more for bottle fed infants, but Heather knows how to get exactly what she needs from you when she breastfeeds. The weigh ins are not necessary. Babies just grow."


After my Dr bashing Dr Knows Breast post last week, I want to readdress the balance a little by telling you a little about Ruth Astbury.


I don't have a photo of her so I made this from the way I remember her looking

Back in the UK, instead of going to a pediatrician for unwanted advice health related parenting issues, we had a Health Visitor. In the early newborn weeks she visits you at home. I had many friends who complained much about their Health Visitor. But I got a gem. My HV, Ruth Astbury, was the best I could dream of. In fact, we nominated her for a Health Visitor of the Year award once and she got runner up (but for some reason she won a train set and I was given money! I felt bad about that..), but she deserved first place.

She claims she was "just doing [her] job" but I believe she went over and above the call of duty. When I came to her, an insecure, new parent, she taught me to trust my instincts. That is THE single most valuable lesson anyone can teach a new mother. I'd ask her a question, expecting to be hand held and institutionalized, and thinking that was right, and she'd answer me by asking, "what does your gut tell you?"

Honestly, I can't express how on-top-of-the-world that made me feel. That this professional was going to trust me; a naive, inexperienced 20 year old new mum, to make my own decisions regarding the care of my child. Because she believed I had it in me. Because she believes in mothers.

And it changed my path entirely. To me, attachment parenting is all about going with your gut. It's not about wearing a sling, or feeding your kids granola, or wearing a t-shirt that says "got milk?" across the boob area. It's about going with your gut. Trusting that God gave you maternal instincts which are sufficient to raise your children successfully. No matter what the books say. No matter what your peers say, or even the well meaning pediatrician. Mommy knows best.

Ruth was introduced to me, by my Dr, as a "breastfeeding expert". And she gave me invaluable advice. Things which are now considered up and coming techniques, she has been preaching since forever ago. She first told me about squirting breastmilk in an eye to clear up an infection. She encouraged maternal nutrition in the most compassionate, non-condescending way.

When Heather died, she came to our home, for MONTHS, to listen to us talk and cry and work through issues. She happened to be a Christian, and was an incredible source of spiritual support also.

She's the most humble, sweet lady. And she does an incredible work, on a one by one basis, encouraging mothers that they are able to be everything their child needs. That's a message so many need to be reminded of.

She gave me a gift of confidence. I don't believe I'd be who I am today without her influence and encouragement. I'd have gone down a much more mainstream path, and would probably have continued to feel insecure and inadequate, as I sort of default to that.


What I'm trying to say is (besides THANK YOU to Ruth), mothers out there, kudos and more power to you. You're playing a very important roll. Try not to sweat the small stuff...babies just grow. Look deep inside and you'll see you have everything your child needs, already built in. God is very clever that way.

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Steps towards sustainability

I think it's wise with the recession and uncertainty of future, to take steps towards becoming sustainable. It's my dream and goal to one day have my own wee solar and wind powered homestead with a pet goat, egg laying chickens and an awesome vegetable and herb garden.

But for now, in our wee cramped up ex base housing 3 bedroom rented, where we're not allowed to plant in the ground, we're planning to start with a container vegetable garden this year. We've bought (too many) seeds and started some seedlings. We don't really know what we're doing, and I already think I ruined some pepper seedlings by not having the soil warm enough. But we're giving it a go, and whether it all turns out well or not, we're enjoying the process.

We're having a go at strawberries, loofas (for sponges, not sure if it will turn out as they need 120 day growing season but it's worth a try), tomatoes, peppers, hot peppers, salad greens, summer squash peas and beans. Oh and some flowers (some edible, others just to attract beneficial insects) and some herbs. And the girls are having a go at a venus fly trap. Seeldings don't look so happy just now though, for the venus fly trap. We'll see how it goes.

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