Letting Go

My first born boy. Off to middle school. For the first time he walks to the end of the road to wait for the bus. Because our town is so rural, school buses pick up children at their driveway all the way through elementary school.

Yesterday Ripley and I walked with Benjamin to the bus stop. Today I just let him go. It seems so silly in retrospect, as I walked to school -- a long way -- from 2nd grade on, with my kindergarden aged brother in tow. Crossing streets without crossing guards. So, walking down the street to the bus stop is nothing compared to that. But it's hard for a momma not used to such a thing. Lord, watch over him. Send your angels to protect his path.

Incidentally, yesterday afternoon Benjamin covered his first school book. We did it the old fashioned way with a used paper bag. Half way through Benjamin says, "Mommy why don't we use the ones you buy?" "Awww," I responded "those paper ones always ripped." "Mommy, now they have plastic stretchy ones, or ones that are like felt that stretch and they're really cool." "Oh" I said. "Well, I like the tradition of the old kind anyway ... and then you get to decorate it! That's fun, right?" I'm going to be 42 in September, is it showing yet? Good grief.

American Gothic

Have you ever wondered why the man and woman in Grant Wood's American Gothic painting look so solemn?

I've done some research and I can say with a high degree of confidence that they . . .

had been working to put up a chicken run fence.

It has been brutal.

We live in an area of town called "Rocky Hill". Need I say more?

We are digging the good old fashioned way with pick and shovel. No fancy, expensive, rented Bobcat or backhoe, no . . . just the sweat off our brow, and skin off our hands. We are just about done. We started nailing the fencing to the posts late last night and are hoping to finish today.

The kicker is . . . this is Victor's vacation week. Not exactly what every family dreams of . . .

At one point when I was exhausted and demoralized I tried to motivate myself by thinking of people in North Korea who are punished by being sent to hard labor camps. Get a little perspective Sandy and stop feeling sorry for yourself!

In the end, it will be well worth it.

Tea and Honey

It occurred to me awhile ago that the only way to drink tea responsibly is to buy is loose tea. Usually I purchase our coffee at The Coffee Exchange on Wickenden Street in Providence. The owner was selling and roasting "fair trade" coffee long before it was a buzz word. He has also invested in the families living in the region by creating his own organization Coffee Kids. 

While I'm waiting for my coffee, I've been noticing the loose tea that they sell there. They don't sell a lot of it, but they sell the basics. When another customer strolled in and ordered a bag of black tea, I started to feel . . . guilty. All of you tea drinkers out there, go and take a look at your pantry. See all of those boxes and individually wrapped tea bags? (granted, not all of ours are individually wrapped) Not very environmentally responsible. Whenever I purchase anything (especially food) I look at the packaging and deliberately avoid things that are bagged, boxed and then wrapped in plastic! (I'm an specifically thinking about those chip snack packs you buy at Walmart or Shaw's.) Think about all of the wasted energy and raw materials (or worse, chemicals to make the plastic) that went into all of that packaging. Think about all of the recycling you'll have to do. Think about how much of it isn't recyclable and will end up in the dump. 

So, when I was out of Peppermint Tea, I went to the Coffee Exchange and purchased some loose tea. This enormous jar of tea cost $4.80 . Wow. Nice savings -- on several levels! 

My Mom gave my sister-in-law and I these fabulous little single serving tea pots. The interior is lined with a fine screen that prevents the loose tea from being poured into your cup. It's also very easy to make another pot with the same leaves -- yes, you will still get a nice pot of tea. 

There are several types of tea pots that work nicely for loose tea. When I was in China everyone had a glass tea pot with a basket that set inside, then on the top there was a plunger that looked and worked just like a french press coffee pot. The Japanese restaurant we sometimes go to simply uses a fine strainer over your mug of tea that they remove before bringing it to your table. Then, of course you have the metal balls and such -- which are okay, but a little bit cumbersome. You do have to clean out your tea pot rather than just dumping the bag into the trash (or better yet, your compost!). But really, we can handle that, can't we? We use a French Press Coffee Pot at home. Not only does it make fabulous coffee, but it is glass (not plastic) and we don't have to spend money on coffee filters. All of these things add up. Before you realize it, you'll notice that you spend less time at the grocery store / Walmart / Target and save. Incidentally, coffee grounds are great in your compost! If you don't have a compost, you can sprinkle them around any acid loving plant -- like blueberry bushes! 

Since we are talking about tea, let me tell you about my 2nd Honey Bee class last night. First, our class has grown. We are all jammed into an Agricultural High School classroom -- all thirty of us, along with the large assortment of teachers. I am amazed at the commitment the teachers have to the aspiring bee keepers. Most of them are men, bringing in all kinds of supplies to show us, putting in a ton of thought into the classes with a PowerPoint presentation and even a syllabus. It seems like there's no place they'd rather be than cultivating future bee keepers and answering all of their random questions. You really get the feeling you could call these guys up at any hour of the day with a bee emergency and they'd walk you through it like they have nothing they'd rather be doing -- and maybe that's just it. Our teachers are happy bee keepers. They are in awe of the honey bee, and rightly so. Honey Bees are amazing. 

• Do you know that the Queen (of which there is typically only one per hive) lives 2-5 years and in her lifetime only has one mating flight where she mates with 7-15 drones (the males that do nothing but mate and eat honey) then stores the sperm and uses them to create eggs. Amazing. 
• After the mating season (spring) the Drones just hang out and eat honey. By July / August the Worker Bees (the gals) have kicked the Drones out of the hive and they die of exposure. Our teacher says you'll see the poor rejected dudes laying on the ground by the hive. 
• There are about 5-7 guard bees at the entrance to the hive (these are the ones that will sting you if you threaten the hive aggressively ... no the whole hive doesn't come out and attack, fyi)  These Guard Bees stand at the entrance and check every bee that goes in and out of the hive to make sure that intruders (like a yellow jacket) stay out. The funny thing is, if a honey bee from a different hive comes and tries to get in, they will reject the honey bee -- unless that bee is carrying nectar and honey in which they say "Come on in Honey!" Smart little bees. 
  

I'll close by showing you a picture of Ripley doing Yoga. The other day he got my matte out and said he wanted to do some Yoga. So, I got my package of Yoga cards out and he did various poses one by one -- trying his best to duplicate what he saw on the card. Too cute. Honestly.

Frugal Living - Cutting Your Children's Hair

My boys could count the amount of times they've been to a professional hair "salon" on their two hands -- even Benjamin, and he's 9! My dad grew up with his father cutting his hair - down at the farm - in Maryland. So, when my mom and dad got married, my grandfather (aka: Gramp), taught her how to do it. She would need to know after all, right? Therefore, the tradition was continued when I was growing up. Mom always cut my father's and brother's hair.(As an aside, my mother tried to cut my hair once. She has blond stick straight hair and I have brown very curly, frizzy hair. No knowing the idiosyncrasies  of curly hair, she gave me the haircut she'd always had when she was little - A Buster Brown haircut, with bangs. Of course those cute little bangs shrank up to my hairline and it wasn't pretty. At some point, she gave up. But really with girls curly hair just keep it long and stay away from bangs and you'll be all set!) When I had Benjamin, going to a hair salon didn't cross my mind. Even at the cheapest of places, a cut costs about 8$, plus tip. $20 can buy an awful lot of food. 

So, last night after homework and dinner, we sat down to watch a little Little House in the Prairie and cut hair. Even though I'm not a big fan of the television, it's a fabulous tool for cutting your children's hair. 

I have had my supplies for years now, so they have long since paid for themselves. Plus, hair scissors (a must), comb, cape (well worth it!), and buzzers just aren't that expensive. Depending on how many children you have, they will pay for themselves in a month or two. I even gave Victor's hair a "clean-up". 

In an effort to save money during these uncertain times, I've decided to grow my hair out again. When I look through our expenses, I just can't stomach spending $60 to get a trim. That's how much my gal costs. The grays on the other hand . . . I always thought I'd go "natural". That was before I started getting grey hair. However, I am considering asking a girlfriend to do a hair-swap. You dye mine, I'll dye yours. Currently, I pay $60 a month for the "good-bye grays".

For Boys:

1. First: Cut the hair line. Be careful of the ears.
2. Second: Buzz the sides, set on medium.
3. Third: Trim uniformly working from front to back in a pattern from ear-to-ear (across). Keeping the hair longer at the top and shorter at the sides.
4. Forth: Check for evenness by trimming uniformly, working from one side to the other in a pattern from the back of the head to the forehead. 

Girls would be a lot simpler, just keep it even all the way around, and if her hair is straight you can give her some bangs. Presto! 

On completely different subject: Benjamin had another swim meet this weekend. Doesn't he look happy? He loves to swim. He loves the competition, the team support, but also the independence of the sport. Plus, he works off all of that pent-up energy! It's so fabulous to see all of the kids cheering each other on. 

And Ripley did a little, er . . . decorating over the weekend. Isn't this bear cute?
Well, Ripley decided he needed a paint job. Good grief.