Time for a rambling blog post!
To my relief, Jonny is not going to law school this fall. It was feeling like a bad time, especially with the paycut that has us both working so much. I’m not sure it would have been feasible. Maybe Jonny doesn’t really need to go. Maybe just having made it on the waitlist at Georgetown is enough? Last night he said, “Since I was on the waitlist at Georgetown, I’m pretty much an attorney, and one of the best in the country.”
What? That’s not how it works? Well, maybe he’ll try again next year.
Last Monday, I took all the kids to the river because Silas was desperate to go fishing. I begged all three older boys to come and help keep everyone alive. Having been home so much for the past few months, I’m just not used to getting out like I was. Taking a bunch of children to a river would have stressed me out anytime, and I typically don’t take trips like this without Jonny’s help. My main concern must have actually been finding a parking spot for our giant van, because once we arrived and parked I felt fine. There is a long walk down to the river along a wooded path, and everyone helped to carry supplies. Seth even carried Mabel. If you know Seth, you know that’s not typical. Everything went well, and the trip felt like a victory until the following day when Silas couldn’t find one of his shoes. Early this spring, with thrift stores closed because of the pandemic situation, I started searching online for summer shoes for my four younger kids. I managed to find them all Keen sandals for under $30 a pair (I think the trick is buying unpopular colors?) Those sandals are Silas’ only decent shoes. So when he told me that he thought that he must have dropped one of them on the way back to our van from the river, I was very unhappy. I thought about that shoe a little obsessively and four days later, after running a few errands, I went back to look for it. I knew it was highly unlikely that I’d find it but I had to try. Larkspur and Beatrix were with me, and they complained heartily about my walking speed. I am a fast walker, especially when I’m on a mission. We made it to a creek that crosses the path near the spot where we went fishing and I started looking. Silas had set down the pail containing his shoes there (Why weren’t they on his feet? Why do I even buy him shoes?) and thought that might have been where he dropped it. Larkspur spotted the shoe in a tree near the creek where someone must have put it. I couldn’t believe it! I’m really glad that I can move on to obsessing about something other than a missing shoe now. I haven’t decided yet what it will be, but I’ll let you know.
I am easing my way back into doing a little bit of fermenting in the kitchen. For the first time in ages, I am making water kefir. I go in and out of fermenting phases, mostly out in recent years. I ordered my grains on Amazon (directions were included) and they came ready to go. I find water kefir much easier to maintain that other fermented beverages and I prefer the flavor as well. My favorite way to drink it is to add the juice of one lemon to every four cups of kefir after the first ferment and then let it sit and get fizzy for a day or so. I do remember having a bottle explode all over my kitchen once, so I am careful to pop the cap open regularly. If you are interested in getting into fermenting, water kefir is a very easy place to start.
My best news is that our cats, Intruder and Rosie, have moved back home after spending the winter with our neighbors. It was an awkward situation and I am just so glad that they are back with us. Intruder is my best gardening buddy. He’s definitely way better than those crazy ducks that I thought would want to hang out with me in the garden. They scatter if any of us take one step towards them. A friend suggested that maybe they would be calmer if we had a drake. Any opinions?
Jonny and I have been milking Tilly every morning for the past couple of weeks and today was the first day that it wasn’t a total battle. He does the actual milking (I can’t for the life of me milk a goat) and I help hold her while speaking in soothing tones. I was starting to worry that things would never get better and I’m so thankful that she’s starting to accept the process. I am filling the freezer with her milk and I just received a big order of essential oils in the mail, so I’ll be making lots of soap! My next shop update will have my last three batches of Greta Goat’s Milk Soap and I’ll be introducing Tilly Goat’s Milk Soap in about a month.
I’ve been working hard the past few weeks to get summer playsilks stocked in my shop. They are listed now, and I am planning a small shop update for Friday at 2 p.m. ET. I’ll post a preview here Friday morning. There will be mordanted yarn for dyeing, worsted weight natural gray wool yarn (the same that I am knitting Mabel’s Puddle Duck in), goat’s milk soap, stitch markers, sachets, and indigo dyed head (or neck) scarves.
amber helena says
Your posts always bring light to my day!
Rita Moeller says
My daughter in Idaho was just given 4 ducks by her neighbor whose husband was sick of hearing them “talk” every morning at 6 am. The next day came the turkey. Turns out the turkey is the “bouncer”—neither the two cats nor the dog will harass the ducks while the turkey is guarding them! My daughter LOVES listening to them quack. They seem to be friendly and they talk constantly. She says it makes her happy and she laughs more. Which is good in this awful time of “staying in place” with such sad/bad news all the time.
Love your pictures and stories. They light up my life.
Rosie Hill says
We’ve been exploring fermentation too! So far just sauerkraut, but it is weirdly addictive (who would have guessed it could be so delicious?? DEFINITELY not I.), and we’ve got grand plans to make fermented pickles once our cucumbers are producing. Maybe I need to try water kefir too!
Hallie says
Ginny, I simply love checking in every week. I’m out in the crazy state of Washington, where I still can’t go to church and I’m nervous to check out books at the library thanks to this contact tracing insanity. I wish you and yours the best. I have a three year old, and I dream of many more, but I love glimpses of what it would be like with a family like yours.
karen says
I’m just so excited that someone put his sandal on the tree for you to see. I get like that with obsessions. Now your mind is free to latch on to the next one 🙂
Theresa Boedeker says
Yay to finding the shoe. Sometimes small blessings have such big payoffs. My daughter started making kefir water and now I am making it. Love the taste and so easy.
Liz says
Aaah, your cats… So adorable how they greet each other.
Ellen says
I’m giving homemade Kombucha a try for the first time! Looking forward to it.
Holly says
SAME. we tried a few females and a male runner duck in the garden one year for slug control. Those darn things never warmed to the situation. They were SO nervous and skittish and weren’t any help with bugs and slugs that I could tell. We rehomed them after a few months because they were so high strung. Sigh. Every once in a while I think about giving it another go, but these testimonies confirm my experience as normal.
Nathana Clay says
I recently restarted making/drinking water kefir as well! I put some fresh cut pineapple in it yesterday. It was very good. I can relate to the shoe struggle, though despite my finding a great deal on quality-brand shoes in their size (like 6 pairs for $10 total, barely used), they continued to fight over the same pair of light up PJ mask shoes from their grandma. After three weeks of fighting, I broke down and bought another pair. They pretty much refuse shoes unless they light up. (They are just-turned three-year-old twins).
Elizabeth A Weber-Falk says
This was a wonderful rambling post. The photos are nice, the words lovely. Maybe someday you could give us a tour of your land. So pretty. Thank you for sharing.
Lily Boot says
Ha! Funny scattering ducks – I used to have ducks in my garden – and had a drake – appleyards and Indian runners – and I can assure you they are just as chaotic with a drake and rather dreadful gardening companions – they regularly ate the leafy vegetables and flattened everything else with their big stomping feet. After they destroyed several beds
we had to fence the veggie garden and now the ducks live in the orchard. Four years on, they still hurtle about the place, and they really only come close to me when they want feeding. They watch me closely in the kitchen and bedroom – they stand under the windows and look up – and love gathering along the fence and watching me in the veggie garden. But they are not companion like – I find chickens and turkeys much more friendly – but equally destructive in the garden. The turkey chicks dug up all my daffodil bulbs this week and ate them ? Sigh. I think Intruder sounds quite peaceful ?
Elisabeth says
Haha! I dropped my sunglasses on a hike on Saturday and knew exactly where they were. I just HAD to go get them yesterday. It was not a short walk… Glad you found the shoe!
Carrie Drake says
I’m a Drake. Your pictures are so lovely and you make life look so charming. I would be happy to be the “drake” to keep your duckies calm…lol, if you knew me, you would know I am NOT the drake to keep any living thing calm.
So much work and caring goes into making these pictures in real life, thank you for sharing.
Jackie M. says
Your garden is magical! Do post a little about your garden, please. I love how the stone wall looks with all the beautiful flowers behind it. Reminds me of Tasha Tudor’s garden
steph says
yep…i can total relate, being an ‘obsessor’ myself. That would have driven me crazy; just like losing Playschool Butch in the backyard. He apparently wintered over in the sandbox; thankfully he resurfaced the following spring. It was a long winter in our house, Butch being everyone’s favorite. (This happened over 40 years ago…needless to say, I’m the ony one in the family who even remembers Butch now.)
eileen says
Ginny you make me smile! Love the shoe story and the frustration about loosing a shoe and a keen sandal at that. It has been hard not going into my Good Will and Arch stores. I had been buying the grandkids clothes and I could always find keen sandals in mint condition for $5, oh well, times are changing. So glad you found Silas’s shoe, made my morning….Victory!
Claudia says
Ginny, I love your dry kind of humour describing daily challenges, obsessions and experiences.
Nicole Spring says
Hurray for water kefir!! I have been sharing our grains with our co-op families because they have been multiplying o quickly. Im not sure on the drake situation but I will say we have 5 drakes and 4 females and they all run whenever we come near. Maybe it is just a duck thing? Our goose on the other hand follows us everywhere honking like crazy. She even hangs out at out kitchen door waiting for us to open it and feed her some lettuce treats.
Marlena says
The two play silks I ordered for Lucy for Christmas have been so well used. Right now they are wrapped around stuffed animals taking naps under the table. I wouldn’t have imagined how many ways a 20 month old finds to use them.
Barbara says
Sachets!! Yeah!! I will be on my computer??Did you receive a happy mail package from me?? Love you friend!
Jennikane says
Hi Ginny, I ferment my kombucha. To avoid blowing up product and glass all over my kitchen I use a cheap plastic water bottle. Any bottle that is supposed to be single use, ie; dasini or… I fill it w/ the Kom and lid it. As the fermentation grows the bottle gets harder and when you cant squeeze it anymore put it in the fridge. Simple answer 🙂
Jaci says
Stitch Markers!!! Yay!