Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Don't Analyze This

Posted January 31st, 2007 by JennyWren



Ode to Procrastination

(or: How the Author Avoids Housework)



An ant, intent upon his work,

went marching past my hand.

I wondered at these folk, who have

done so much more than man.



They've seen it all, they've passed it down

The generations through.

Their lives must have some meaning,

Could their patterns be a clue?



Tap, tap - no, left!

Tap, tap - it's here

And so the work goes by;

No wonder at what went before,

No pause to question, "Why?"



It seems they know a simpler truth

That is not mine to grasp,

And oft I've wondered whether I

Would know it, in the last.



How about we start a Really Bad Poetry night? *grin*

Monday, January 29, 2007

Dentists

Posted January 29th, 2007 by JennyWren


I have a toothache. I guess. Is that the technical term for it nowadays? Seems I'm missing an entire vocabulary, every time I deal with anyone in a medical profession. Words that should be simple are replaced with something that takes three times as long to say. Like telling a woman in labor that her pain is "discomfort." I love words, but I'm sorry, when I'm in pain, I don't have time for extra syllables.

So here I sit, holding the side of my head and rocking back and forth. I've taken ibuprofen, and I've used something meant for canker sores, that has numbed the entire left side of my face, but my jaw still hurts. There's not much left to do, but call…the DENTIST. (*sudden, discordant organ music plays*)

That is, if there is such a thing left. I've been to a dentist twice in the last twenty years (I figured it up, while I was pacing). The first time, I was given "laughing gas", but a bit more than they intended. While the dentist and his assistant were talking about a baseball game, I was going two-dimensional. They apologized profusely, filled the tooth, and sent me home shaking.

More recently, I went in for the same kind of pain I'm having now, only after several days. Boy, have things changed. Technology-wise, it's great. They take x-rays, and can show them to you immediately on a laptop computer. But what has happened to the good, old-fashioned office visit? A cleaning, maybe a tooth filled or pulled, that nagging reminder to floss?

This dentist came in and sat down behind me, where I couldn't see her. She proceeded to tell me about the "Plan" we were going to set up. Ladies and gentlemen, when you hear the word "Plan" in a dentist's office, you know nothing good is going to come of it. It usually means something like: We will make you an appointment with an "oral surgeon" to have the first tooth "extracted", then you will come back and we will go from there, with a series of visits.

Am I the only one who sees a sale going on here? Yes, I know you are supposed to go to the dentist regularly. But a "plan"? It sounds more like a subscription.

My husband has had the same experience, repeatedly (he keeps forgetting who his dentist is, and calling a new one, LOL) The newer dentists apparently are more like "project managers". They assign other professionals (oral surgeons, orthodontists, cosmetic dentists) to various parts of your mouth, and make the referrals for you. They apparently don't even pull teeth anymore (Oh, sorry, I meant "extract")! You could walk into the office with an emergency appointment, because your cousin Bubba accidentally knocked three of your teeth out while you were playing pool, and the dentist would calmly set up a plan for biweekly visits over the next 18 months.

On the other hand, he has found a few who still "do their own work". My husband can walk in, get a tooth pulled (not have them "start" a root canal that will take three visits to finish), and come home to do the gauze/no straws thing for a day.

I think I'm hoping for that kind of luck. I've been sitting here with the phone book, waiting for human hours (thank you for helping me pass the time!), because I'm going to call a dentist in town, and ask for *shudder* an appointment.

Here's the interesting thing: the dentist I'm going to call first was an obvious choice for me, because, well, his name is William Faulkner! Go figure. :) I sure hope he has an opening. Somehow I don't think I'll mind if he says "extract" when he means "pull", or "abcess" when he means "infection". Hey, it's Faulkner!

Saturday, January 27, 2007

My Library

Posted January 27th, 2007 by JennyWren


Inspired by Petroglyph's adding a (web link) to LibraryThing, but much less organized than that program, I thought I'd have a little more listing fun by sharing some of the titles on my shelves.

Now, don't worry, Icon, I'm not about to catalog every book in my house! ;) I don't think it would be possible. Does anyone else have the "book problem"? Even after selling or giving away truckloads of them, I still don't have room to unpack all of the boxes upstairs.

Aside from thousands of kids' books, cookbooks, homeschooling books, classics, fiction, and that set of Great Books of the Western World that I finally mooched off of my mother, I do have one shelf full of "my books", in the livingroom. This holds the books that I want within reach at all times, that I refer to or pull off when I need something to read. Sometimes it also includes current fiction or a new book that I'm in the middle of, but mostly it's turned into a reference shelf, of sorts. I've noticed the same tendency in my husband; he's a fiction fan, but the books that he keeps near his desk are always related to his current interests and work: programming, writing, anime drawing.

Anyway, I apparently have more "current interests" than him, because my books take up quite a bit more room! ;)

So while you're visiting, here's a glimpse at what's there now (they used to be organized, but shelf height, random reading, and general household chaos fixed that pretty quickly):

First shelf:

* The Complete Tightwad Gazette, by Amy Dacyczyn
* Profits from Your Backyard Herb Garden, by Lee Sturdivant
* Herbally Yours, by Penny C. Royal
* Encyclopedia for the Home, by Maud C. Cooke, the Educational Company (1902)
* ABC and XYZ of Bee Culture, by A. I. Root (1975 edition)
* Tom Brown's Field Guide to Wilderness Survival, by Tom Brown
* Backyard Composting, by HarmoniousPress
* A Light in the Attic, by Shel Silverstein
* Bible
* Handbook of the Trees of the Northern States and Canada, East of the Rocky Mountains, by Romeyn Beck Hough, B.A.
* Helping Orphaned or Injured Wild Birds, by Diane Scarazzini
* Care of the Wild Feathered & Furred: a Guide to Wildlife Handling and Care, by Mae Hickman and Maxine Guy
* McMahon's American Gardener, by Bernard McMahon (reprint)
* Midwifery and Herbs, by Willa Shaffer
* The Glory of the Garden, edited by Bronzert and Sherwin
* The Writer's Market Companion - Hey, that's not mine!
* Herbs for Sale, by Lee Sturdivant
* Chickens in Your Backyard: A Beginner's Guide, by Rick and Gail Luttmann
* Time and Again, by Jack Finney
* The Backyard Orchardist, by Stella Otto
* The Backyard Berry Book, by Stella Otto
* Natural First Aid, by Brigitte Mars
* Peterson First Guides: Wildflowers
* Beekeeping: The Gentle Craft, by John F. Adams
* Trees of North America, a Golden Guide to Field Identification
* Robert Frost: The Road Not Taken and other Poems, Dover reprint of Mountain Interval
* Sink Reflections, by "Flylady", Marla Cilley
* Back to Basics: How to Learn and Enjoy Traditional American Skills, Reader's Digest

Second shelf:

* Basket full of catalogs: gardening, beekeeping, chickens, homeschooling, junk
* The Indoor How-to Book of Oats, Peas, Beans, and other Pretty Plants, Hazel Perper
* Christy, Catherine Marshall
* Park's Success with Seeds, Ann Reilly
* Edible Wild Plants, Oliver Perry Medsger
* The Complete Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable, Juliette de Baraclai Levy
* The Complete Book of Annuals, Rockwell & Grayson
* Hmm, there are a couple of poetry books missing here…101 Famous Poems, for one.

Shelf three:

* Ooh, some pictures of my kids were tucked in here!
* The "Have-More" Plan, Ed and Carolyn Robinson
* The Encyclopedia of Country Living
, Carla Emery - a wonderful book
* An issue of Hobby Farms magazine, on dairy goats
* Square Foot Gardening, Mel Bartholomew
* Catfish Ponds and Lily Pads: Creating and Enjoying a Family Pond, Louise Riotte
* Fences, Gates, and Bridges and How to Build Them, George A. Martin
* How to Grow More Vegetables,etc., John Jeavons - newest addition to the shelf!
* Four-Season Harvest, Eliot Coleman (also new)
* Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening, Rodale Press
* Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition…, Sally Fallon
* Insert more gardening books here, this is getting old…
* Natural Horse*Man*Ship, Pat Parelli
* Gnomes, Poortvliet and Huggen
* Seed to Bloom, Susan Powell
* Seed to Seed, Suzanne Ashworth
* Life Skills for Kids, Christine Field
* Not for Packrats Only, Don Aslett
* Some more gardening and herb books
* Clutter's Last Stand, Don Aslett

Last shelf (whew, not much here):

* A bunch of home improvement, weatherizing, construction, do-it-yourself, etc. books.
* the next few are Reader's Digest Books:
* Strange Stories, Amazing Facts
* Mysteries of the Unexplained
* The World's Last Mysteries
* Mysteries of the Ancient Americas
* American Folklore and Legend
* America's Fascinating Indian Heritage
* The Step-by-Step Needlecraft Encyclopedia
, Judy Brittain

And there you have it! The other books I refer to regularly are related to homeschooling, painting or crochet, I keep them in different spots. And the nature guides have ended up in the kids' rooms.

What's on your shelf?

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Snow and Hot Chocolate

Posted January 24th, 2007 by JennyWren


The kids have been in and out all day, giggling and shivering, their cheeks red and their eyes bright. We finally had enough snow for a snowball fight! So there is a trail of wet gloves, scarves and coats leading from the door to the kitchen, where the hot chocolate is. ;)

The horses seem to enjoy the kids being outside, I guess they agree that it's perfect playing weather. Of course, right now, they're more interested in the hay we finally put out for them.

Why is it that in the middle of the night, ideas seem so clear, stories make sense, scenes are vivid…and yet when you wake up and try to capture them on paper, they all fall apart? It's like trying to write down your dreams - while it seemed logical at the time, a newsstation reporter painting a serial killer brown to stop the murders doesn't translate so well in a story.

Anyway, I don't usually come up with "complete" story ideas, but last night I thought I'd hit upon one (no, not the serial killer, lol). Now I realize it would probably do better as a country song. :) Maybe I'll try that route, instead.

——————————————————

"Blogging" is a new thing for me. I've read a few, and even have a couple that I check regularly, but I've never attempted keeping one before. I'm wondering how boring I'll be allowed to get… LOL

I found an interesting article from 2000(in a blog, of course!) about the origins of blogging:

Weblogs: A History and Perspective

I don't think I'll be keeping the informational type of blog, I'm not up on the latest anything. But I'd like to keep a meandering thoughts kind of blog, if it doesn't drive everyone too batty. ;)

I'm thinking that regular writing of any sort is good exercise, so look at it that way. A bit like a journal, and therefore rambling and random, since it's mine!

Friday, January 12, 2007

A New Year, A New List

Posted January 12th, 2007 by JennyWren


Today is when my New Year really begins. Every year, on January 12, I'm a little bit older, although I doubt I'm any wiser.

Usually I spend the day getting lots done around the house, determined to make this day "the first day of the rest of my life," etc. This year, it's a little different; I'm feeling run down from a week of sitting up with a sick kid. But my brain still wants to accomplish something. And what better to satisfy that need, than a good old-fashioned list?

While I'm at it, I think I'll make a few, just to give myself a bit of a marker, something to gauge "progress" by. If I don't like how that makes me feel, there's always the delete button! ;) And today I can make my lists with ease, thanks to our new text editor!

Here goes nothin'…



Big things I need to/would like to accomplish this year

1.

Um…okay, that's a little too much pressure. LOL

How about this, then:

Projects

1. Winter sowing
2. House cleaning
3. Homemaking - really need to focus on this
4. Homeschooling - I'm having the usual middle-of-the-year curriculum doubts; must decide.
5. Working (and writing) on this site
6. Cooking and eating better, more natural food
7. Growing more of our own food
8. Actually getting things planted out this year
9. Starting new flowerbeds
10. Starting seriously composting
11. Painting
12. Organizing all of these hobbies
13. SEE HOW THIS IS TURNING INTO A TO-DO LIST?
14. Help hubby finish horse shed
15. Work out a way to set up hoophouses, coldframes, or a high tunnel

Crafts I'm in the middle of:

1. Huge tiger latch hook rug for 10yo
2. Two different cross stitch tigers for 10yo
3. Cross stitch of a piece of cake
4. Cross stitch of golden retriever for sis? May be too hard.
5. Crochet - rose, green and white afghan
6. Crochet - Black, grey and white cat afghan for 10yo
7. Baskets full of yarn need to be decided on
8. Paint fox by door in livingroom.
9. Repaint kids' room walls
10. Paint Bambi or some such with projector, in kids' room
11. Make some aprons with sewing machine - I have the materials, just need to do it
12. Make curtains

Wow, this is cool.

How about seeds I've wintersown so far this year:

1. American Bittersweet (Celastrus scandens)
2. Ivy from Mom's house
3. Poppy - Lauren's Grape
4. Hazelnut
5. Hazelnut
6. Almond
7. Lavender (Lavendula stoechas)

There, I feel better already. :)

Okay, rolling up sleeves for some real listing…watch out: ;)

In a lovely world with limitless time, I would:

1. Choose the perfect curriculum and teaching style for each of our kids, and follow through with the daily schedule, or say forget "standards", let's just live; you'll learn!
2. Grow or raise all or most of our own food.
3. Get more bees
4. Train the horses, using natural horsemanship methods
5. Paint
6. Write
7. Dance
8. Sit out in the woods for an entire day, just breathing, and watching.
9. Banish telephones
10. Make lots of garden beds
11. Go fishing!
12. Invite friends to come and sit a spell (and keep my house clean enough to do that spontaneously)
13. Spend most of my time outside (the opposite is true now), I have a theory about what's natural and healthy
14. Never sleep, unless it's for the relaxation or cuddle time
15. Love on my kids more, and read them more books

Now, see, that's not an impossible list (except for the sleep part, but I'm betting it would be more relaxing). I just have to forget about all of the other lists, the "to do" lists, and the wants, needs, shoulds, etc. Hmm. Worth pondering!