My secret life of indiscreet discretions

We have been having a series of wind storms from the south, warm winds for this time of year, with calm and sometimes sunny breaks in between. Fall storms are so gusty here.

The worst one was on Monday night, with gusts up to 75 mph. We lost the plastic wrapper to our hoophouse in that squall. I find it oddly comforting that it wasn't just us—both Cedarville and Divine Gardens lost similar structures, and Divine Gardens also had some tunnels over beds of greens that didn't just blow down, they blew away.

The damage to our hoop is just the plastic. One of the PVC ribs released from the crosspiece at the apex, which I'm sure then poked up into the plastic and helped the wind to split the plastic like a tight drum. It's shredded. It's actually kind of awesome, except for the fact that I'm out $50. Farming has always been a risky business.

We are already exploring methods for reinforcing the structure at the apex when we redo it, probably in the early, early spring. I think I am going to drill some holes through the ends of the crosspieces (and the ends of the ribs inside of them), put a bolt through there, then tape the whole thing for good measure and to protect the plastic from the PVC ends and the bolts.

Except for that one fatal flaw, the structure held together beautifully. It definitely has potential to stand up to even those high of winds, though I'm hoping we don't have to test it again anytime soon.

The other day stars fell out of my rain boots. It was just that kind of day. I've had a lot of those lately.

Today the boys were on holiday from school. The sun shone for a bit, so I kicked them out of the house and forced them to play hopscotch and do some running challenges while I set my hair, then we baked cookies. The boys wore a couple of my vintage aprons, and have each put in orders for full aprons. I am happy to see them in the kitchen.





Tonight I get to go out with Trey. I used my divining rod on my newly organized closet, and it kept telling me to wear my whale skirt, so I am, complete with a petticoat and leg warmers. It's chilly out there!

I have been rubbing cayenne pepper on my feet. It is helping a lot.

Oh my god, I cleaned my bedroom! I hadn't touched it since raising the bed because I was busy and it was so overwhelmingly trashed, but I took care of everything except one small box of odds and ends yesterday. I had to neti pot all the dust and dog hair out of my sinuses when I was done, and my throat still feels trashed, but it was worth it.

I want to do the living room and kitchen this morning, then bake, bake, bake all afternoon.

It has been so long since I made apple pie, I'm going to have to relearn how. Like riding a bike, I'm sure.

I didn't cook a whole lot during the Halloween costume/event rush, nor the week and a half after that when I was weaving every few days. I mean, I made a shitton of falafel, with pakora for an appetizer (the first time I ever made them at home, and I'm going to make them SO much more), plus some piroshki, pizza, and a few other things. Still, I didn't get to spend as much time in the kitchen as usual, so I have a lot of pent up culinary energy. I spent all morning making yeasted orange waffles (the boy made the breakfast potatoes) and pouring over cookbooks, making lists. With the cooling of this part of the world, I just want to bake!

I have plans (and ingredients) to make cinnamon rolls, my favorite jam filled nut dough cookie, muffins, scones, and several salads/healthy snack type dishes.

On Monday we're going to have a vegan pot-pie type casserole—a thick vegetable stew with a biscuit topping, then apple pie a la mode for dessert.

Tonight the boy and I are having a version of the famous Yumm Bowls (stupidly named, but delicious), with homemade Yumm Sauce, but instead of the standard rice, beans, and cheese, we're having quinoa and puy-aka-french-green lentils, topped with avocado and tomato. It should be tasty. That sauce is really good. It's one of the few things I couldn't conceptualize the taste of from reading the ingredients. It has a unique flavor.


I have a lot of cleaning and organizing to do, and a few craft/sewing projects that require immediate attention, but otherwise, everything is going really smoothly. I have been relishing the extra time that I have now that the boys are in school. That quiet, alone time really helps me find my balance. I have been a better, more attentive mother, and am continuing to make progress in getting my household routines down. Life has been really enjoyable lately.

I got to spend a few hours with my darling Carol yesterday. I am so enjoying getting to know her better. I have very few close friends, but the ones I have are the best.
 

Riv came down with a sudden, somewhat strong fever on Monday night. He was super lethargic and had a little stomach ache. By Tuesday morning his fever was gone and he started to feel better. That's how fevers are supposed to work! I'm glad his immune system is starting to function better. Nobody else in the family got sick either. I haven't been sick with a virus in over a year! It's amazing.

Anyway, he was back to school today, but is maybe still feeling a little tired, or MAYBE he's starting to like naps finally. He stopped taking naps when he was like a year and a half, even though he needs them. We are having a great wind storm today, so he set up on the couch in front of the window in the living room and watched the storm. After five or ten minutes of sitting very quietly, he started to snore. He slept kneeling on the couch for about an hour and a half. Awesome, and cute!

I hennaed my hair and put a mehndi on my hand on Monday night, a repeat of this one, which I really like a lot. It's easy to do and looks beautiful. I did a better job this time too. It's nice to see that I'm learning.

To prepare henna you have to mix it with lemon juice and let it set for 12 - 36 hours, until the dye releases. Once that happens, you can pop it in the freezer and use it anytime. I have a cone in the freezer from the last time I prepared henna, so all I had to do was put the cone in a zip lock bag and soak it in warm water for a few minutes, then I was good to go.

I did it partly because I knew I was weaving today. I thought boss lady would like to see it, and I love the way that having a mehndi increases the beauty of working with my hands, especially when I'm weaving, sewing, or knitting.

Boss lady LOVED it so freakin' much. She wanted to know all about the process, and suggested my coming in and doing her and her employees' hands sometime. I told her that I wasn't very good, but she insisted that it looked beautiful. I think I'm pretty good at knowing my limitations and working within that to create something that works. I really love the process, and the results. I even love the way it fades.

I would like to be more regular in my application. Having a mehndi on my hand makes me really happy. The kids love it too. I'm going to do the boys again soon.

The costumes we were planning on wearing to the derby Halloween bash last night didn't work out (we couldn't get all the pieces because the costume shop was out of stock), so we almost didn't go, but we figured out something to wear at the last minute, and I'm SO glad we went. I had a lot of fun last night. I went as a flamenco dancer, since I had all the pieces for that except a fan, which I got at Malia's shop. Jade took a picture of me that I hope to get my hands on at some point.

One of my exes who I still have a close and sometimes flirtatious relationship with was out last night, and he hung out with Trey and I for much of the night. It was really nice to have him there, especially since Halloween brings out the devil in him. I got to chat with lots of other people that I love too.

At one point, I was sitting outside. Some people who were leaving walked by, and stopped to tell me how much they loved my outfit. It turns out they are tango dancers. They gave us a tango demonstration right there on the street corner, and invited us to come out to tango lessons and exhibitions. I am SO there. I've seen snippets of the dance before, but never live. It was a really sexy dance, with a lot of dialog between the partners. I liked it a lot.


This morning I am trying to finish up the kids' costumes quickly. I am almost done with the black widow, but the tiger still needs a bit of body work, a hood, some ears and a tail. We're taking the boys to the Y's halloween carnival today. Starrrie might come out and see the boys, and probably take some pictures of them.

Back to sewing!

The dogs chewed up my tomato pin cushion (the craft store standard), and I'd been wanting a new one anyway, as well as another small one to keep with my flower project, so I made myself a couple using this tutorial for pin cushions with a bottle cap base. I used an old jar lid for the larger one.





I thought some of you who have pins lying about might enjoy the link. :)

Yesterday was an odd day, with some good, some bad. We never made it to our cider pressing party, unfortunately, as it was POURING rain, then there was a considerable amount of lightning and thunder, and I did not feel like riding my bike in that weather yesterday. That's partly due to the fact that I do not have proper winter clothes this year, mostly because my crappy boots finally died, and I can't wear any of the clothes I have that fit and are suitable for cold weather without boots.

I poked around online and found some boots that will probably work quite well for me, and they were on Overstock for half of what I've found anything else comparable selling for, so we went ahead and got them even though we can't afford them right now. It is fall now and will soon be winter, and unless I want to be housebound, I need boots. I've been looking in my usual inexpensive channels for TWO YEARS and haven't come up with anything, so I went ahead and bought some. I feel a little guilty about it, but honestly, they're a tool that enable my cycling lifestyle, so that's just how it's got to be.

So we spent a quiet afternoon at home, doing a few small projects. William Alan came by with a print of this photo of me, which is even more amazing in a hard copy. I love the detail of the mountains in the print. The rest of our photos from that set are in my bedroom, since they're a bit more nudie, but I think this one is going to go in our living room. Not that I don't already have a LARGE picture of a naked woman in our living room, but it's not me, so it's different. Anyway, it was a treat to get to see William Alan again. He has such lovely energy. The gift of the print really made my day.

I also got my hair cut this past week, and it is going to take a lot of getting used to, if I ever do. I asked him to put some long layers into it, to help my pin curl sets look nice, and it turned out a fair bit shorter than I was anticipating. The layers are shorter than I thought they would be too. And my hair doesn't lay nicely when it's unstyled, it flips out all over and some people might like that look but I don't think I do on me. I can't put it into ponytails or braids and I think I'm freaking out a little bit, but whatever. I know it's just hair and it grows back, but mine grows SO SLOWLY! I was terrified of getting layers for just this reason. I guess I should have listened to my fear.

Today I am at home alone, cleaning and cooking. I am making dinner for some friends in the neighborhood who just had a baby. I'm doing those pan fried polenta patties stuffed with seasoned beans and roasted sweet potato, topped with avocado, salsa and black olives. I hope they like it. I know they like polenta, so it should be good.

I have a LOT of sewing to do this next week. The beginnings of our halloween celebrations are next weekend. Jaden wants to be a tiger, Riv wants to be a black widow spider, and now it turns out Trey and I are going to a costume party this Friday, which we were not planning on doing. But it's hosted by the Roller Betties and is also Lauritz' going away party (the real reason I am definitely going), so we're going to suit up and head over.

I was trying to come up with some fun costumes for us that wouldn't be that hard or expensive to make, and I think we're going to be the big bad wolf and little red riding hood, but years later once she's tamed him and they're exploring BDSM. So, the wolf is going to wear goth boy clothes, we're going to put industrial hoops in the mask's ears and a septum ring in its nose, and he'll be led around on collar and leash. Little red riding hood will be the goth/dominatrix version of the fairy tale, complete with riding crop. I just have to modify some pants into bondage pants, sew a red cloak, make a leash and possibly a collar, and make a riding crop. Plus I have to make the tiger costume and black widow costume. Should be a fun week!

If you're interested in purchasing any of my handmade goods, for the time being, they can be found at handmadebycora. I promise I won't spam you guys about stuff like this a lot, but I may make a post here every now and again as I add new types of items to my collection.

I have photos of my existing stock of fabric flowers in this post, which are selling for $5 plus $1.22 shipping. I'm also doing an introductory special as a thank you to my friends and acquaintances for the encouragement. Buy any two flower pins for $10 with free shipping!

This afternoon we had a little wind storm. A block and a half away from me, a poplar tree kept blowing against some power lines, causing sparks and eventually pink arcs and stuff, then one of the trunks of the tree caught on fire.



People had been calling 911 for about a half hour before anybody showed up. Once it finally blew, the whole town and part of the county lost power briefly, and parts of town (including my house, of course) were out for 6 hours or so. No damage was done other than to the tree and the power lines.

We went to the Beav as it started to get dark. The boy watched a hockey game and I sewed a bit. We got home about ten minutes after the power went back on. At first, neither our fridge nor our computer worked, which was freaky! We got it figured out, but I definitely blew a surge protector, which I am replacing a.s.a.p.!

My new phone came today. The phone I had before was the same model as Trey's, just a different color. So, I figured I should be able to take the phones apart, pop my mostly in tact motherboard into Trey's casing with his non-cracked LCD, and retrieve my contacts. It worked! I didn't fuck up his phone either! I'm really happy to have my contacts still. I had a lot of numbers in there, and wouldn't know how to contact some of those people otherwise.

Of course, NOW I realise that Verizon finally implemented a Backup Assistant that keeps a backup of your contacts on their website and automatically transfers them to a new device. There's a monthly fee associated with it, but it is waived if you are registered with their website, so I'm gold. Since my LCD was cracked, I couldn't install the app this time around anyway, but now that I've manually re-entered all my contacts into my new phone, I'm going to keep a copy on their website for the next time around.

I'm mostly just proud of myself for getting inside chintzy consumer electronics and bending them to my will without breaking them.
 

The boy and I had so much fun last night! We raised our bed, modifying our futon frame into a loft bed with four shoe shelves on one end and lots of storage space underneath. WE LOVE IT SO MUCH! Now that we have done it, we feel like fools for not having done so sooner, and are also wondering why so many beds are built low to the ground, though I guess storage space isn't as premium in a lot of other households.

The best part is, we had a blast the whole time. Construction projects can be a bit frustrating for us at times, partly because we're both novices and partly because we've historically had a hard time communicating about stuff like that and working well together. Everything came together beautifully last night, including us, which greatly added to our satisfaction at the end of the project.

We still have to add a bit of cross bracing for extra stability and build a couple of ladders, but that should be easy enough after dinner this evening. I picked up the lumber at the RE Store today. I love shopping there. It cost us $10 to do this project. I also love biking home with lumber in the trailer. :)

Now I'm all fired up to clean and organize my bedroom, but I'm going to try to devote my energies to the common rooms today instead and work on my bedroom throughout the week next week.


I also have great health news all around. We don't seem to be coming down with the flu, though it's possible we were fighting it. I haven't been sick with a virus in a long time! After that year plus with virtually no immune system, I am relishing having one again. Trey is also finally getting back up to full strength after his broken face/reconstructive surgery incident last year.

The best news of all is that Sam hasn't bled since he went to the vet last week, so there's a decent chance it was just a bad nose bleed! We are thrilled and relieved.


My creative/inventive side is going crazy, as is often the case in the fall. I love that I have been getting better and better at following through on these ideas. Trey is so supportive of all the things I dabble in; it's great to have the time and encouragement. I am so blessed to have him.


Dinner tonight is vegetarian pho (using these recipes, and bahn xeo. I am excited to try the bahn xeo (anyone know how to pronounce this?), as I have really missed crepes since I stopped using eggs in baking. They look delicious!
 

So, the dogs chewed up my phone. We've been keeping the young ones separated when we go out because they like to play too much in the house when we're away, which sometimes includes chewing up stuff. They don't do it when they're apart, only when they're together. Tonight they broke down our barriers and chewed up my phone. It can probably still receive calls but the screen is cracked, so no text messages, and I lost all my numbers. Fucking dogs.

Those of you whose numbers I had, if you can please give them to me here, I would be grateful. Comments are screened.

In other news, we've been exposed to the dreaded swine flu, which isn't all that big of a deal except that being sick sucks and I don't want to expose anyone else, so we'll be laying low until we're sure what's up. Two people at the kids' dad's work have confirmed cases and there are at least two more possibles. I found this out after telling Dan that Trey and I had been feeling unusually tired, and I also had a bit of a sore throat and aches and pains that I couldn't account for otherwise.

Tomorrow we're hoping to still get some stuff done. My second crop of beans is ripe for the picking so I hope to pickle some more of them. We're also going to raise our bed into a loft bed in order to increase storage space. I will actually be able to put away all of my clothes when we're done! I'll also have space for my sewing stash, and we're putting a shoe shelf in on one end. It's gonna be awesome.

I have had such a nice morning! I'm finally starting to feel like myself again after the post-stress hangover from the past week. I seriously felt like sleeping all day most of the week. It was awful. I'm way better physically than I used to be, but the post-stress response gets me every time.

I finally started coming around yesterday. The kids had an open house at their school, so their dad came over for dinner then we all went to the school. Afterward, they went home with their dad and the boy and I went out for a mellow but enjoyable night on the town.

This morning we got to sleep in together (an infrequent luxury), and even got to linger in bed for a while after waking. Mmm. Around 11:00 he went to work and I followed him to do some grocery shopping. I biked HARD on the way there, and relished the exercise. I forgot my list at home, so I got a glass of orange juice with a shot of wheat grass juice in it (my favorite "morning after" beverage) and recreated my list. The juice really hit the spot.

While at the store I ran into one of my favorite store employees and scheduled a date for the kids and I to come look at his reptile kingdom. He has quite a few different specimens all in really cool terrariums that he built himself. The kids were there once before, but they were much younger. Jaden reads about reptiles a lot and has been asking about keeping a snake. It'll be fun to take a tour of our friend's space.

The Co-op was out of currants (have been for a month) so I had to go to Terra to buy some currants. I walk in the door and the most delicious brothy garlic smell hit me hard. Turns out the little cafe in there had (vegetarian) pho as their lunch special. I had never had it before, but have heard nothing but wonderful things about it. I treated myself to a bowl, and it was delicious. Between that and the juice, I feel REALLY good right now.

Honestly, in my post-stress stupor, I ate little but bread and cheese last week. A few veggies and sprouts and whatnot, but mostly starch and dairy. No wonder I felt so gross! I haven't eaten such nutritionally devoid food for such a long period of time in I don't even know how long!

So now I really want to make pho. I know I can make some spring rolls to go with it, and I'm researching other vegetarian Vietnamese dishes. I might even just do a Southeast Asian style coconut curry with lots of lemon grass and ginger. Not tonight, though! Tonight is Greek food—gyros and couscous salad. Mmm.

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I have a small story for you. One of our neighbors (who I don't know other than by sight) expanded their vegetable garden this year. They didn't make the best use of their increased space, but will probably do better next year. They did have a pumpkin vine with two ENORMOUS fruits on it, like, probably three feet across.

Apparently somebody STOLE one the other night, because yesterday where one of the pumpkins used to be, there was a sign that said, "Thanks, pumpkin thief!" That really makes me sad. Stealing from someone's vegetable garden is low, especially since so many gardeners are so free with their surplus.

I figured that someone who'd had their faith in humanity knocked down a bit could use to have it restored a bit, so we went out and picked one of our four warty knucklehead pumpkins (only a little over a foot across, but still good sized), and also a butternut squash and acorn squash, then I put a note on them that said "From the Pumpkin Fairy". We went over there last night under cover of darkness, arranged the squash prettily under one of their trees, then stole away into the night giggling.


 

We have had a hard day. On Saturday our Saint Bernard, Samson, started having a heavy nose bleed, just out of one nostril. It would stop for a bit, then start again. It clotted, but the clots would come out and the bleeding kept up. It was never tons and tons, but it was steady and showed no signs of stopping. We called the vet and talked to the doctor on call. They said it wasn't something that required urgent care, told us what to watch out for, and to set up an appointment when they opened on Monday.

So we took him in today. They sedated him, flushed his nose in case it was a foreign body, and tried to look around to see if they could see anything suspicious. Dog nostrils are very convoluted, and there's only so far they can go in without micro tools. He didn't find anything, and no foreign objects came out. He's sending out a couple of other tests just to check and see if something turns up, but there's a pretty slim chance of that. The vet is definitely leaning toward a tumor, which is no big surprise. Sam is a purebred Saint Bernard, and they have a shockingly high rate of death by cancer in middle age. He just turned six.

We have had him for less than a couple of years. He is not without his issues, but he's been an amazing dog for us. He came to us with major allergies, which we were able to treat through diet and grooming. This is the first summer of his whole life that he kept all of his hair. His coat looks amazing, and he is very happy with us, with the kids, with the other dogs. No matter what happens, I know we did right by him, and will continue to do so for as long as he is with us.

So now, we wait and keep on loving him. We have to give him an epinephrine spray to control the bleeding, and we'll keep doing that as long as he seems to not be in pain, has his usual appetite, etc. Still, we are sad. We hoped to have another year or two with him, and now we don't know how much longer we have.

On the plus side, he seems fine right now. He wasn't even that aware of or perturbed by the bleeding, he doesn't seem to be in pain, he is eating just like usual. He's cool. We'll just keep loving him and hope that things stay okay for as long as possible.

Sorry, friends list, but I am now going to spam you with pictures of my sweet, beautiful boy.






River did this to him, I just photographed it, I swear!




We have 50 or so photos of the boys sitting with Sam like this.

We went to the Bellingham Roller Betties' Blood and Bruises Ball tonight. We had fun. The kids got to go with us for the first half of the night. They hadn't been to an event like this with us before. Their dad picked them up when it was getting on toward bedtime, so I got to just show them off early in the evening, then dance with my sweetheart the rest of the night.

We took a few pictures. I really like the way my outfit turned out, especially my little cocktail hat. The hat and the flower on the sash are the only new things about this outfit, and that is nice too.

Also, these are the only pictures of me and all of my boys thus far.



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