Birthday Gifts

 

Check out these great new, funky rain boots my parents sent me for my birthday! Rad, huh? What’s even radder, is that I NEED them! They’re practical AND cool. It’s very wet here, about 150 inches of rain per year. Yes, you Vegans – it’s a far cry from the less than 4” we got in Nevada. It’s a BLAST so far, 19 years in the desert, ah, my partched soul is soaking it up! Now, ask me how I like it in Feb, March and April when it’s been raining for 4 or 5 months… Anyway, India and I are LOVING our boots, I can’t wait to wear them into town. Thanks mom!

 

My grandma got me these cute, fuzzy slippers. Yes, it gets cool enough to wear slippers here!  We’re at 1300 ft (elevation) and it’s damp, so 67 degrees feels a bit chilly, plus, coming from dry, hot Vegas, I bundle up a bit more than most people here! I love it! I love to be cool and have cold feet, until I slip them into these slippers. Thanks grandma!

 

Jonathan got me this awesome computer stand. I can bring it to the bed and watch a movie. It keeps my lap top propped up, off my lap, so my legs don’t feel like they’re on fire while I blog AND it really helps my wrists by elevating my key board. He also got me these techy speakers. Have you ever listend to some songs or watched a movie and the volumes all the way up, but you can hardly hear it (especially when you’re getting 10/150 inches of rain on a tin roof)? Not with these powerful little things. And tin – no more tinny sound from a computer speaker. THANK YOU Jonathan!

 

Can we say Trader Joe’s? Yes, we can! Thanks to Don, who brought me my shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, maple syrup and brown rice pasta. Yum, yum and ahhhhh. Thank you Mr. Don!

The Loft

Every week I crawl up there and clean up India’s play space. We are working on “cleaning up” and keeping things nice and neat. We’ll get there. It’s nice and neat now, so you can see what it looks like.

 

This is a wooden dollhouse I won at a silent auction at the Waldorf School. I got it for a song!

 

I found this “baby bed” at the Transfer Station (dump) for $1. I think it’s a cathouse or something. Works great for India’s dolls. How many dolls get to take a nap in a tent? Her babie’s potty is close by. That’s how she potty trained herself, with a doll that pees. It only had to pee a week or so, she “trained” for about 6 months. She was diaper-free right around her 2^nd birthday. No diapers @ nap @ 2 ½ and no diapers at night when she was 3. Isn’t it nice to be saving $40+ a month? Oh, yes!

 

This is the suit case that holds the baby clothes for froggy – these are the 3 month old baby clothes that she squeezes her 3 ½ year old body in! She wants to wear them to the store, but that’s where I draw the line. I’ll post a fashion show for you, if I had a sense of humor, I would think it’s funny. I’m sure you all will. (Poor thing, having such a serious, strict mother. Should I start a fund for therapy now? She can at least thank me for that.)

Organization and Order! Yes, I’m on the Leo/Virgo cusp – August 21. 

Pineapples

 

Do you know how easy it is to grow a pineapple? Well, I haven’t done it yet, but all you have to do is stick the top of a pineapple in the ground and it will grow! After you harvest that pineapple, it will continue to grow another one. I think it does take about a year for each pineapple to grow, but if you replant each one, you’ll have a patch going!!!!

 

Many people live on farms on this side of the island and two friends each gave me a pineapple one day. Look at the size difference of the tops? The pineapples were the same size, sorry, I didn’t take a picture of them.  They were both WHITE pineapples, which are FAR less acidic than the yellows and MUCH sweeter – oh, they are soooo good! Oh, you also can eat the core; it’s almost unnoticeable. Awesome, huh? We now have at least two white pineapple in our patch.

 

This one is from are pineapple patch, the only one the ex-husband left for us. Anyway, it’s yellow and India said her mouth hurt eating it, so I think that’s enough pineapple for her for a few days. I did have to cut out the core, she kept handing it to me, all chewed up.

 

Playful Kitties

Well, I checked and Lilly and Rita are boys – but what’s a name? India named them, and should it matter that Lilly and Rita are boys? We’re living in freedom out here; so, Lilly and Rita are boys.

Just to refresh your memory, Rita is the black one with exotic green eyes, and the largest. She/he sort of seems to be the leader. I think she, he, is the leader because I’ve seen each cat lick her/him. Hmm, that doesn’t sound right, the mother licks the babies. Anyone with a pet psychology degree, help me out here. Anyways, much of the time the preening turns into wrestling; which is quite fun to watch (I enjoyed watching high school hockey). These cats RUN all over the place. They are fast, fearless and aggressive. (I did mention in a previous post that we have NO mice or rats – which run rampant in these parts, didn’t I? Side note: One lady had to get rid of her stove because the rats had made a home in it and no matter how many times she cleaned it out, it still smelled like rat hair whenever she used it. She must not have baked much.) 

 

Lilly is the ginger cat with ginger eyes. She, he, is the smallest and seems to possibly be the youngest and least dominant. She, he, may even still be a kitten.

 

Chrysanthemum IS a girl and she seems to be in the middle. She takes her paw and moves the food bowl closer to herself when it’s just her and Lilly eating.

 

Roughing It

 

Some of you are amazed at the change in lifestyle we’ve made. For me, this change has been in the making for a while. This is how I want India raised, in the country, in nature with room and space to use her imagination.

 

I love living in the country. I love how quiet it is and private. This is actually a great location; we’re 5 mn from a Laundromat – which I have to use – and a grocery store, hardware and about 6 restaurants. It’s a tiny town buy has a lot a restaurants – no fast food. I haven’t made any lotions – no need for them here. I brought a supply of oils. Everything is pretty expensive to ship here. The rule is anyone that visits must bring a box of Trader Joe’s goods.  :) I have adjusted to grocery shopping here, buying different things that are affordable. The other shopping, for the “stuff” is hard. It’s like a full time job, going to so many stores because no one store has everything, even Wal-Mart. They are out of so many things and now they’re remodeling so it is a complete disaster, just as school was starting too. I do feel like I live in Russia, the store will sell out of apples or eggs. Isn’t that crazy! It’s such a change from Vegas, but that’s what I wanted. Yes, Target, Trader Joe’s and Sam’s are greatly missed here, those were my 3 stores. I hate Wal-Mart, but it’s the only store, well, there is Ross. Things are actually cheaper, and of course better quality than at Wal-Mart, so I start there first. But I’m looking for a robe, no robes. Only moomoos. There are no slippers for children. So I do have to order things. I’m letting the grandma’s know what India needs. One sent $ or a flashlight for her. You should see how dark it is here when we arrive home late. The car is far from the house. We started parking closer to the house, but got stuck in the soggy soil and took 2 1/2 hours w/ a neighbor to get pulled out...

 

We have our hot shower and Jonathan added another washer and now we have water pressure – it’s wonderful! We also pulled out this “tub” and cleaned it up today, I’m bleaching it all night and I might have a tub (and a bath) tomorrow.

 

We’ve been without TV since Jan. It was easier than I thought. We had all the movie channels and cable and ended it between seasons. I started reading again, there's a lot of great books out there and I got recommendations from friends. Nothing beats a good book, a so-so one can make you quit reading for a while. I only miss TV when I’m sick and just want to lie around and don't have the motivation to read. We have movies we can watch on our lap top, but we go to bed early, when it gets dark, between 8 – 9pm. Just enough time to get dinner and clean up after Jonathan gets home.