A Fantastic Holiday

There comes a time in life when you are surrounded by wonderful people and you realize then what you've been missing.

Over the holidays I have been very blessed to have Reinder and his awesome parents as guests in my home. Reinder is always a wonderful guest- he cooks a mean dinner and is a magnificent kisser. Come to find out, his parents are wonderful guests too. They are genuinely warm and sweet people, considerate and friendly.

We had so much fun this holiday driving around Tennessee and seeing the sights. We hit 2nd Ave. in downtown Nashville and the Old Spaghetti Factory, downtown Chattanooga and the big aquarium there. We did some shopping and they were introduced to the Bass Pro Shop with it's dead stuffed animals. I learned the Dutch words for Raccoon (wash-bear) and skunk (stink-deer) which I'm pretty sure I'm spelling completely wrong, but that's how they sound. They learned the words "electric titty" which I kept saying for days until it was translated for them and they died laughing.

Over vacation I did manage to draw one page and get it ready to scan. Reinder and I did a little drawing over a few evenings when it was quiet and we were all watching television plopped on the couch. I'm afraid his parents stole the couch from us and the dog cuddled with them a lot. His dad threatened to take Dagmar home with him, and I think she really would have liked it.

I'm going to scan it and get it ready for Monday's update. Tomorrow I'm going to take the Christmas tree down and start getting ready for going back to work Monday (yuk).

I have discovered another thing: Halo 2 for Vista sucks hard. After researching it most of the day, I'm finding that Halo 2 won't install for some Vista users and you pretty much have to tear your hair out to get it to work. It works in conjunction with Window's Live and if one little thing doesn't want to load right... you're boned. So far, it's been a waste of money.

I have also been reading about Window's Mesh... looks interesting. NPR did a story about a Palestinian company that was going to virtual computers to make document transporting a non-issue for those who work in and out of Isreal. I'm wondering what that's going to mean for the future of computers and folks who travel a lot or work away from the office.

I hope everyone's holiday has been as good as mine has been. Good night all-
-Aggie

Happy Holidays!

Updates to the story are on the way, but in the meantime.. enjoy some smexy nudity.

love,
-Aggie

Getting Ready for the Holidays :D

Trying to get ready for the holidays. You'll notice the new counter top has NO burn marks on it. I spent most of the afternoon Saturday replacing it, which meant taking out the old countertop and unhooking the sink, then cutting the new counter top, installing the sink back in and doing the finish work. The dog has taken over the couch again now that it's back, and the tree is up and ready for when everyone gets here.

I'm excited. This year is going to be awesome! Reinder will be here soon, and my vacation holidays will be complete. Now... to sneak in some drawing time....

Happy holidays everyone-
Aggie

To Marda Anne

The weekend went by in a blur of house cleaning, laundry and cooking. I had friends over and talked on the phone... spent time with Reinder as I could. It was in the quiet of Sunday afternoon I realized what day it was.

December 14th.

You see, December 13th, 1988 my mother died of leukemia. She was 46. It's been 20 years- so she would have been 66.

Christmas is always a bittersweet season for me. It starts around Thanksgiving and goes on to after my birthday in January. I get this horrible dread about it all- the Christmas music, the family obligations, the shopping crowds and holiday stress. I try not to think about it, but memories of winter in Indiana always sneak in. The smell of turkey in the house, Notre Dame football on the television, my mother singing Elvis songs as she did dishes. Those big fat colored lights on a fake pine tree in the east window of the living room, blue, white and brown shag carpet and a fake leather couch. It would get so cold the windows would get covered with frost.. even on the inside. Nothing like lake effect snow and below 0 weather. We'd eat raspberry-cranberry jello salad and open presents on Christmas eve just so we could sleep in like the bedpigs we were. In new pajamas, we'd sleep in the same bed for warmth with the cats and her little dachshund. We'd dream big dreams of winning the lottery and talk about what we would do with the money.

So to my mother, I dedicate this blogpost-- the woman, witch and wise woman who raised me... who taught me to oil paint, to crochet and stick pins in voodoo dolls. I love you and miss you mom-

Aggie

Merry Christmas to me!

One neat thing this month: getting my couch reupholstered. It was cheaper than getting a new couch, and it recycled it - keeping it out of the landfill. It's so beautiful!

-Aggie

Burn Out, yet again

Over the last days, I've hit a sort of burn out yet again.

My oldest son, who I often call "Squirrel" decided to set a super hot skillet on my laminate countertop Saturday morning, burning the shit out of it. He couldn't wait for Spam to cook at "4" on the dial.. no no.. he had to put the halogen burner on "HI" and then wonder why the kitchen was filling with smoke from the burning hot oil.

So my countertop, brand new BTW, now has three chunks melted out of it. In a fit of rage, I took him to Home Depot, got a new countertop to the tune of 79.00 and a new circular saw (Merry Fucking Christmas mom. You get a new power tool. Sorry that you had to pay for it yourself.) By the time I paid for end caps and sealant for the sink, it was 135.00 for his fun fun mistake.

He now owes me labor around the house at 5.00 an hour to make up for it. I already got my gutters cleaned out at 2 hours of work. Only 125.00 to go!

My living room is a mess now. I have a new countertop on the floor. I have to cut a hole out of it for the sink. Tools are all over my dining room floor waiting. It will all get done come vacation, which is two weeks away.

Mentally-- I'm wondering how long I can make it with an autistic teen. When he was little, it was more difficult in many ways. A five year old child laying on the floor throwing a fit in public is a huge embarassment. You stop going out. You stop having friends over. Your friends just stop coming around. People look at you like you're a bad parent. It's your fault your kid is a freak show.

Now it's a new set of concerns. Now I wonder if my son will ever live on his own. If he will be able to move away some day. If he will always live with me, or if his younger brother will have to step up and help him when I am gone. In this tough economy, who will hire an autistic adult? Will he suffer abuse and harsh treatment like so many other autistics? Have I been wrong to shelter him? Can I even teach him to cook for himself?

I am burned out yet again. I'm hoping my creativity will come back soon. It is very much missed. There will be another update on Monday-- one I drew and inked over Thanksgiving vacation. After that, I'm not sure when the next one will be. Hopefully before Christmas vacation starts. Drawing today was out of the question. I just couldn't manage it. Sorry.

Aggie

Bedpig

Ryan clued me in on the Addictionary-- a place you can add words yourself. I have added the word "Bedpig" which many of my friends have adopted from me, but I've never heard others use. Feel free to go add words of your own and vote on mine, add comments and/or improve it!

-Aggie

Thanksgiving Day Menu

Because of family travel and juggling, I'll be cooking my Thanksgiving up today (Wednesday). Today's menu will be as follows:

A roasted duck, baked in a clay pot and stuffed with apples. I hate dressing and I hate turkey.

Spiced yams- brown sugar, walnuts, marshmallows, spiced with allspice, mace, cinnamon to taste like pumpkin pie.

Broccoli casserole- broccoli, chopped onion, cheddar cheese, cream of mushroom soup, mayo topped with Herb dressing then baked.

"The Green Stuff"- Granny Aileen's most high calorie but delightfully nasty green dessert: Lime jello, boiling water, marshmallows, cream cheese, crushed pineapple, pecans, mayo, cool whip. Disgustingly addictive.

Cranberry Salad- can of cranberry jelly, raspberry jello, chopped apples and celery, walnuts. Trust me- it's way yummier than plan old cranberry from a can. You can add a little bit of shredded cheese to it too, but I never do. My mother used to make this as well as a fruit Waldorf, but I got sick of the Waldorf.

Pumpkin pie- home made crust and everything. Yes. I'm addicted to it too.

yeast rolls.

Now.. just to get to the grocery and pick up the last things.... *sigh* I've got a lot of work to do today!

-Aggie

State of the Comic --Edited and Updated

Well guys, I'm not getting anything done on time this week. It's been a stupidly stressful week and my creativity is right out the window. I'm hoping that later on in the week I can catch up and get an update online--

but we'll see.

Observations of the week:
1) people stink
2) people who stink normally don't improve
3) people who stink don't mind spreading their stink on to you.

Edit: Many of you know I work in arts education. I try not to talk a lot about it here, because quite frankly-- it's damn depressing. This last week all those little statistics you read about came home to me. Childhelp.org says that 12 out of 1000 children are abused... so 1.2 out of every 100. I have pushing 400 kids in my school. That means about 5 are abused. I believe it.

If you look at mental illness, Wikipedia tells us that mental illness is pretty prevalent. So add another 3 to 10 out of 100 who are bonkers and need help.

So every week, I see 30 kids who are a challenge. I've got three autistics, one lays on the floor and throws fits and screams, a handful of seriously ADD/ADHD children, one of which has a poop fetish. I have two who have sexually abused a younger sibling and are being investigated by the police. I have several with parents in jail for drugs who have been neglected. I have two who are so aggressive and violent that they are constantly in the office for threats or confrontations.

I wasn't trained to be a therapist- and some times the stress of it all is overwhelming. I'm so looking forward to Thanksgiving break. I need it. Bad.

-Aggie

My happy things

Today has been very hard at work. We've been inspected the last two days by outside accreditation teams. I've had a small griping at, and I've been told by a co-worker some disturbing news.

There are days I don't like my job a lot. I have to force myself to remember why I do it. First I do it for the pay. I have a family to take care of. Secondly I do it because it's what I'm good at. What I'm trained in. Thirdly, I only work 180 days per year. Fourthly, I get great vacations and benefits. Fifthly, it's art related. Sixthly-- sometimes I feel like I'm making a difference in the world.

So today is my day to remind myself of the good things. I have a wonderful boyfriend. Reinder is funny, talented, smart, cute and above all-- very incredibly good to me. I have good kids. I have a darling cat and a couple of nice dogs and three very adorable goats. I have a job that allows me to have this home in the country where I can have my little pets. There's a studio on the second floor.

Yeah.. I'm convincing myself to keep on going. Sometimes.. that's all a person can do. Thanksgiving vacation will be coming up soon, and I'm gonna focus on that. Everyone has to have something to look forward to.

-Aggie

NaNoWriMo

I'm having so much fun with NaNoWriMo this month! So far as of today I have 20,147 words, nearly half the requirement to be a NaNoWriMo winner.

To see my NaNoWriMo Page and click to become one of my Writing Buddies, Click HERE. Reinder, Aeridus, Dylan, Hogan and a few others are linked there-- and you can check up on them too!

To read the Second American Gothic Daily Novel in it's ROUGH DRAFT form, Click HERE. It's called "The Vampire's Spy" and it's available at Deviant Art. Because of the subject matter, you will need to sign in to read it.

Have fun!
-Aggie

NaNoWriMo and Update schedules

This year I'm going to give NaNoWriMo a shot-- to start writing the second American Gothic Daily novel. I have an idea of what I want to write, but I haven't gotten very far on it. Maybe this will kick me in the ass some.

What that means is that November will be a month filled with writing writing and more writing.. probably less drawing. We'll see. I have tomorrow's update drawn, inked and ink washed. I just need to scan it and text. It will be ready Monday afternoon.

Hope everyone had a good Halloween. I know I didn't. I spent the evening curled up in bed half asleep. Saturday I also spent in bed tired. I needed a bedpig day to catch up on rest. Today I spent the first half of the day cleaning my kitchen, doing dishes, sweeping and organizing the fridge. After that, it was to the grocery store and writing out some bills. The emergency room visit last month came up to 180.00 after insurance. My other son Badger needs 170.00 for his Honors Club trip. After paying the regular doctor co-pays and some other misc. bills-- I watched 600.00 leave in 20 minutes. Not funny.

*sigh* At least dinner was great: home made pizza, with ground beef and pepperoni, parmesan cheese and home made sause. Yay!

Aggie

Goodbye Feral Chicken

I always thought it would be coyotes or foxes that would do in Feral Chicken, the last of four chickens who were abandoned here when the previous owner could not catch them. She was smart for a chicken. She feed herself well, made friends with the dog named "Bonehead" and lived under the porch.

Sadly, today my other dog Dagmar finally caught up with her. She broke free from her tie out during her potty break, snatched up Feral and ate her.

The left overs Bonehead finished off. Funny how he was so easily swayed to eat his little girlfriend.

So now all I have is 30+ white feathers scattered in the yard. I told the folks in IRC chat tonight that I would have given her a little funeral but there's no body left. Foxy suggested a pyre. That made me think of barbecue. Then I suggested a road trip to KFC. <_<

I'll miss Feral. Having her definitely changed my mind about chickens. I had once hated them. Grandma Margaret had them and loved them all. She even collected porcelain chickens (her bedroom was done in chickens while my bedroom was done in plaster cast angels and saints who stared at me in my sleep...another weird story for another day perhaps) But now? Now I have a better appreciation for the dumbest bird on the planet. They're not as stupid as we are led to believe.

Goodbye Feral. Maybe next year I'll get some orphingtons in your honor.

-Aggie

Wishlists

I always have a hard time coming up with things I want. My lists are always short-- or worse-- horribly expensive.

In the last two years, I've bought many of the things I've always wanted: a new stove, a nice fridge, an ice cream maker, goats and a convertible. I have gotten a few new pieces of jewelry, a stock pile of red sweaters and an awesome television set, a wacom tablet and a large format scanner. What more could a girl really want?

I don't like trendy clothes very much. Knick-knacks make me vomit. I don't get into scrap booking, electronics or collecting. Mother always collected Blue Danube china, and while I too have my favorite china pattern, I've decided that collecting it can wait another decade when I can get a nice hutch to put it in. About the only thing I really ever squeel over any more is art supplies.

Today I started looking for something I've wanted for about a year now: an electric mattress pad cover. Long ago growing up in northern Indiana, January often hit -75 F below wind chill. We lived underneath ratty old electric blankets-- the lumpy wirey kind that made you suspect you'd be electrocuted at any time. Times have changed. Now it's an electric mattress pad on my shopping list.

This afternoon I went to Home Depot and picked up four bales of blown insulation so I could start re-insulating the attic. When the house was remodelled and new drywall installed, the previous owner didn't replace the insulation. Last winter was not horrible (being here in the South) but since they jacked up the electric rates 10% as of October 1st, insulation and cost cutting measures are looking pretty good. Last January the heating bill was 240.00. It's normally about 100.00 a month because I run the washing machine, dryer, television and computers all the time. If a 100.00 electric matress pad and 100.00 of insulation helps knock that down some, I can't complain. They will pay for themselves over the next winter or two.

The next trick will be finishing the insulation. I put the four bales in this afternoon-- only 10 more bales to go. The packaging recommends a minimum of 4 inches. I figure that if I do a few bales at a time, I can get it done over the next three months myself with no problem.

Now... to get started on tomorrow's update....

Guest Comicking again

Coming up soon will be a page done for Joseph over at Ataraxia Theater. The page is cut into four strips, and each strip is published one per day.

The image you see is just the basic art once it's scanned in. To read the text and find out what's happening with these two women in bed, you'll have to go read it. Sneaky aren't I?

-Aggie

This week-- Probably no Update

Sorry for the lateness in informing everyone about this week. Reinder is here for Fall Break and I'm not near the computer much at all.

We've been trying to get out of the house-- going to Tennessee parks and going on walks, hikes and dinners. Anything to get away from screens, keyboards and mouses.

He leaves Saturday afternoon, then I will be hustling to get some drawings done-- getting ready for Monday's return to work.

Have a good fall break guys.. I'll be back soon.

-Aggie

NSFW Happy Birthday Foxy

Turnsky over at Foxfire Chronicles had a birthday last week and I missed it, so I'm making up for it with boobies.

Yay boobies.

Palin and AIP... Moo?

While Mrs. Palin was never registered as a member of the Separatist AIP, her husband Todd was.

She spoke at their last convention and I really gotta wonder.... is it terribly smart to associate with these folks? The AIP apparently has ties to other separatist organizations like the Southern Independence Party of Tennessee.

I tried looking up the "Southern Independence Party" and found this stuff here:

Southern Independence Party Website, saying it's not the same as the Confederate States of America... Moo?

The Federation of Southern States and their "Southern Independence Party"-- Wow.. these guys are special.

Once you read these two pages.. the rest just start looking all the same. Just pick a southern state. The League of the South is very active, as well as many other Neo-Confederate groups.

These people just make the rest of us Southerners and country folk look really bad. Is it any wonder that the North, the East coast and the West coast look down on us??

I feel sorry for McCain. He picked Palin quickly and for reasons that seemed great at the time. Obama had just picked Biden as his VP choice and McCain needed someone who would be cooler than Biden and lure in those disappointed Hillary supporters. Alaska's Governor seemed like a perfect choice. She was a charismatic conservative from an oil state. Her pregnant daughter would appeal to Right-to-Lifers and her big family to the average American mom. Now we're finding out she really did push the ethics question in Troopergate, and she's just not what this great country needs. She doesn't care about America. She cares about Alaska.

I miss the Old McCain from 2000. One time McCain pissed off the Religious Reich back in his first presidential bid-- back when I had respect for him. He used to have the balls to say the Republican party nuts were held by Pat Robertson and the like. Watching the old videos, he looked so much younger and vibrant. Now he looks worn and tired. McCain was a great choice in 2000 and would have done so much better than W. He's not a good choice now. Now he's got brown smears all over his nose and I just can't respect a man who will get on his knees for the Neo-Con votes.

Sorry John.... thanks but no thanks.

-Aggie

Animal Behavior

The last few days have been full of animal hi jinks around here. The dog broke loose from his tie out run and jumped into the goat pasture. Thankfully he didn't attack the goats, but then again, he didn't have much time to. Squirrel caught him and we put him in the front yard.

Dagmar, my other dog has been inside more. I love her to death, but in the middle of the night she loves to stand next to the bed and lick her lips. That's how she wakes me up to tell me it's time to go potty. If she wants petting, she will stick her head under my hand-- but no.. all night long I heard slurp slurp lick lick snort snort until I throw on my shoes and take her out.

Buttercup, Daisy and Iris are much happier now that the male dog is out of their pasture. They were caught today standing up on their hind legs snacking on honeysuckle and being very cute.

Pyewacket the cat has been peeing in the canned goods inside the pantry. I finally figured out why. When Badger cleaned out his box, he accidentally left the litter scoop inside the box. Pye didn't want to go near it. Scoop removed. Problem solved.

Can I have weekend nao? =^x^=

-Aggie

The D word

Today as I listened to my morning dose of NPR (middle of the road), Fox News (conservative) and breezed through Commondreams.org (Progressive), I saw the word Depression for the first time in real terms.

I don't like fear mongering or worrying about something that might not happen. I remember the concerns over Y2K and how so many people decided to build bomb shelters, bought a year's worth of MRE's and stocked up on gas masks, portable water and ammo. We prepared a little, read some books, got a week's worth of things-- but that was a good idea anyway. Not long after that we had power outages and tornado weather. Things you should be prepared for anyway.

The hand crank radio I still use. It sits in my kitchen. Flashlights never go out of style. Neither does knowing how to cook from scratch. The propane cook stove has seen years of hard use at camping events and my cast iron dutch oven is well loved. Some things are worth knowing and doing, even if we live well. They're just plain fun.

If we go into a recession this is what we must prepare for:

-increase in prices
-higher unemployment up to 10% of population
-cutting of services
-restriction of credit

If we go into Depression, it's basically a recession over several years.

-increase in prices
-higher unemployment over 10% of population
-cutting of services/government services/basic services
-restriction of credit (consumer credit cards/auto loans/house loans)

This last week, I've explained this to two different people, and both conversations went kinda like this:

"Think about it Tom. If people lose their houses or their jobs, they aren't going to be paying their property taxes. Sales taxes are going to drop. Tennessee will not have enough money to pay teachers and cops. Who do you think they will rid of first Tom? The student aides, the part time employees... the non-tenured folks. Then they will cut art and PE next. Of course I'm concerned Tom. "

Tom nodded. "Surely laid off teachers could find work though..."

"That's not entirely true. If we go up to 10% unemployment, you're looking at a lot of people out of work who are not paying taxes. They stop paying Direct TV. AT&T. Verizon Wireless. They stop paying for the little luxuries. They'll cancel thier car insurance just so they can pay the car payment. They'll stop putting money in savings accounts just so they can pay for food and gas. When the middle class stops spending...you're gonna see a lot of folks outta work."

Tom suddenly got very silent. He replied "I guess we're gonna see a lot of people trying to steal stuff too. You do funny things when you ain't got food." We both nodded and decided it was time to talk about something more cheerful.

My second interesting conversation was with my 14 year old boy Squirrel. Squirrel was eating his food and said "I don't get it mom. What's the big deal?" I took in a deep breath and said, "Well honey. This means your future is screwed. In five years when you want to go to college, there won't be college loans out there for you. I wont have the money to send you because I'll be spending it on things to survive. If you do get a good job somewhere, you might not be able to get a car loan or a home loan. In the future when loans are available, they will require an even bigger down payment. You're gonna have to be even more responsible with your money than my generation."

About that time, his grandfather got antsy and decided to leave the table. I continued, "It's very likely Squirrel, that you will be living with me for quite some time. As an 18 year old fresh out of school, no one will hire you because you have no training or skills. You're going to have to compete against people who are 25, 30.. age 40 for a job."

Squirrel nodded, and his younger brother Badger got very quiet.

We have much to think about boys and girls. If we have 10% unemployment (one in ten) it's going to be bad. One in 8... one in six.. it's going to be really ugly.

-Aggie

I can't stand this..... thing....

My reasons are pretty obvious. I'm a Witch with a capital "W", I don't find her Pentecostal church choices very amusing (I was assaulted once in one-- nothing says "fun" like a forced exorcism), Spiritual Warfare shows total disregard for anyone's freedom of choice (the Constitution says you can be a Wiccan, but we're gonna hunt y'all down anyway).

I don't like her folksy way of talking. It's a ploy to cover up a severe lack of understanding and research. She did'nt know what the Bush Doctrine was, or for that matter... couldn't describe a bit of legislation her dear friend John passed during the debate. She just covers up bull with a smile and some spunk.

If you're gonna play with the big dogs.. don't you think you should know how Democrats describe Republican policy? How about knowing your own Republican party? Hello? Cluephone??

What she can do as a govenor is beside the point. I'm sure she was a decent govenor to a state with a small population of 683,500. It's like being the MAYOR of Nashville (Nashville has 619,600 people). Would you want the mayor of Nashville to possibly be president should John fall over from a heart attack??

Her failure is that she knows little about the lower 48, nothing about Federal politics and doesn't seem to have a clue how bigger states run. California is the 7th largest economy in the WORLD. If she had run California, I might have been more impressed. Alaska is #45.. right under Sudan.

Sorry.. she has NO experience worthy of putting her in Federal office. She has no experience with diverse populations, large urban cities... Why did she even accept this nomination? I suggest it was greed. Instead of admitting she was not up to the task of federal government, she jumped on that opportunity quick. Even if John loses, now she's made herself a game player for the rest of her days. Oh yes... personal power and greed...

Happy Birthday to Hogan

Happy Birthday to Hogan of the Crossover and Cameo Archives, Cameo Comic and Evil Overlords United. He's currently working on the 2008 Halloween Havoc- Congrats for surviving another year. Just think.... another year or so and we can start working on Crossover Wars II.... :P

It's not bewbies....

Here I have some fan art for my friend Dylan, whom many of us know as Figgy... or as I often call him..... Dylarpillarbunneh

Dylan has had a series of set backs with wrist injuries. They are keeping him from playing guitar and singing. I think he's pretty talented. I stink at singing and I certainly can't play guitar.

He has said that he will feature his new art in one of his upcoming vids. That's cool.. 'cause then I get to share billing with Oona.

Family Life *sigh*

This week has been Hades.
I spend a lot of time right now on the road, taking my spawn to football and soccer games and practices. Wednesday night, the night I planned on coming home and scanning in some art... having a little "me" time before bed, turned into Emergency Room sitting.

My oldest takes Concerta, a form of time released Ritalin. It's fantastic for his squirrel like tendencies (that little squirrel Pill-Z from Foamy is just like my boy... Kervorkian Scarf and all). Unfortunately, it's an appetite suppressant and Squirrel-Boy doesn't think much about eating or drinking all day long.

So basically what happened is that Squirrel-Boy didn't drink anything all day, skipped lunch, only ate a light breakfast and then went to football practice. Squirrel-Boy passed out, they called the ambulance, and I got to sit in the waiting room while he got two ringers worth of IV fluids. His blood and urine tests came back saying "Yep. The squirrel is dehydrated"-- so now he gets four days of no PE and extra liquids and food.

What was also interesting to find was that he had ketones in his urine-- which means that he's now burning muscle mass and losing weight. So now Squirrel has to eat a much bigger breakfast under my watchful eye, two high-carb weight gain bars for snacks and eat his lunch in front of coach.

Mom used to get me this horrible stuff called "tiger's milk". It was a high protien, high vitamin milk additive that was supposed to be chocolate flavored. Tub caulk was more like it. When I was little, I was anemic and had low iron-- so now I'm looking into finding some sort of organic equivalent for Squirrel. Orange Pop has suggested stuffing him with peanut butter... to which I can remember enjoying peanut butter and banana yougurt shakes much better than the "tiger's milk". If anyone has any high-calorie yet no-chemical/no preservative suggestions... Please let me know!!

-Aggie

Picking Your Battles Wisely

adMy best friend and I talk for about an hour a day, usually seven days a week. Tonight's epiphany was this:

We can't fix the bailout. We can't fix our banks. We can't fix our economy. We can't fix the consumer spending system we have ourselves in. Just what in Hades can we fix?

You see, OrangePop and I love us some yummy socioeconomics. We like it served up with a ton of research and links on the side, often with a dollup of tea snorking humor. She's a sociology major and I'm an art education major who enjoyed a few too many sociology classes in college. Explains much don't it?! Damn tree hugging Progressives....

Anyway-
I'm sick of the news. It gives me a headache. I'm tired of explaining it to others and trying to get a mediocre grasp on it myself. The results of it are far reaching and ultimately shitty. There is nothing good to come out of it that I can see so far. So girlfriend and I finally just said to ourselves "let's work on what we can fix."

What we can fix is our home budget, our credit card debt, our diets and purchases. We made a renewed commitment to learn more about the things we can fix -- like her barn. It needs a new roof and some repairs. I need to learn more about chickens too. I've managed to keep Feral alive (well.... let's be honest.. Feral has managed to keep Feral alive) but I'd like a few more. I need to re-read my gardening books, get my soil ready for next spring's work, clean up the burn pile I'm going to turn into a composting area.

We need to make "worse case scenaro" plans incase of deep recession or major economic depression. Can we continue to make our mortgages? Would we give up internet? Would the Direct TV satelite dish get cancelled? What would we do if we lost our income? what if the price of food sky rocketed? How can we save on gasoline?

Yes, these are almost doomsday thoughts, almost as depressing as the Bailout talks. What gives Orange and I some comfort though is that we are both very resourseful girls, and we've worked hard for our minifarms and the dreams of being self sufficient. We've started making steps to get there-- be it fresh eggs, home made bread or goats in the back yard.

When we look at how we live in comparison to how city folk live-- we some how know we'll make it okay. While everyone else is in line at soup kitchens, we'll be trading eggs for flour and watching our tomato plants grow. While others are living in tent cities, we'll be snacking on walnuts from our own nut trees and figuring out what to do with five bushels of cherries. (I had to throw cherries away this year. I had too many to possibly eat) It will be a lot of hard work, but better hard work than starvation, and if hard times never happen-- oh well--- our lives will still be much richer for the effort.

She and I are going to TRY to slow down on the bitching about the government. We can't be watchdogs all the time. It's not like we are going to start a successful revolution. What we can do though is share our thoughts on mini-farming, kitchen witchery and getting back to Mama Nature. Time for me to pick my battles a little more wisely-- and change the things that I actually have the power to change.

-Aggie

Things that Brighten My Day without Alcohol

XD I can't wait for Reinder to see this one XD

Palin and Hunting Real Witches

I'm rather disgusted. There is no way in Hades this woman is getting my vote. Ever.

Aggie

Happy Birthday Reinder

Bread

I stunk at making bread until I watched Father Dominic's show "Breaking Bread" on PBS. My loaves always came out like dirt bricks. (discovered I had no patience and was trying to rush it) His basic bread recipe is what I always use now:

2 cups warm water
2 tbs sugar
yeast
1/4 cup oil
6 cups flour

I skip the salt since I'm not allowed to have it. You mix it by hand until it's a little sticky. Knead for 6-8 minutes so the gluten will stretch and catch the carbon dioxide released by the yeast. Cover the kneaded ball in oil, cover and let rise for an hour or longer. You'll know it's ready to go when you push it and it springs back.

Put it in an oven on 375 for 30 minutes or so.

Right now I'm making a wheat bread. In my large 8 cup measuring cup, I put in half white flour, throw in some whole wheat flour and top it off with some cracked wheat. It's a tough chewy bread that is great with fresh butter.

Bread Pudding:

What happens to that stale bread? I keep it and make breadpudding, which keeps in the fridge well and makes a fast breakfast.

2 cups milk
big scoop of butter
2/3 cup sugar
3 or 4 eggs
spot of vanilla
enough bread to cover
berries or raisins if you've got them

tear all the crusts off your bread and tear into chunks. You need a lot of bread- and this works good for half a loaf that's stale and no one wants to touch. Mix up the other stuff and throw in the bread, making sure it's all covered and soggy. Bake at 350 to 375 till it looks nice and toasty on top-- usually about 30 minutes. I use a pyrex cake pan.

Aggie

Rural Life

Rural life is definitely a choice, but it's a fun one. These pictures are of my back yard. The dog is Bonehead, sitting with the chicken named Feral. They are enjoying the dirt spot made from the giant kiddie pool over the summer. The bread loaves are the ones I forgot to tend to when I was talking outside for a time. I threw them hurriedly onto a cookie sheet and they turned out great. You can also see my backyard when the full moon comes up. It was incredibly blue and beautiful. The last picture of my oak trees is an attempt to explain to Reinder what "glowy" is. The sun as it goes down over the forest across the road casts warm yellow on the tops of my trees, then makes the area very warm and glow-y.

My oak trees are about 100 years old. Before I had two stumps ground down in the back yard, I counted the rings and discovered them to be about 100- 120. The house I live in has a much older foundation too.

-Aggie