No Soap Radio

So...this blog is about sharing a Leo Family practice...making our own laundry soap. We've been making our own soap for about 4 years now, and I can't imagine ever going back to the store bought stuff. We're able to make the stuff for a FRACTION of what it costs to buy it. (I mean....what would cost you 7 or 8 bucks for a thing of Tide can be made for pennies...AND...it works just as well.) There's lots of parts of the process of making this soap that the kids can help out with, which is nice...It's all natural...not to say that you could sit and drink it but...it contains no artificial dyes or fragrances...now, that being said, it's important to note that this soap does not have ANY scent...so, if you LOVE your clothes coming out of the laundry smelling like "Spring Rain" or "Honeysuckle Blossoms" well then...I don't know what to tell you (actually...more on this in a minute).
Before I lay down the recipe/process, let me just say that I am definitely not taking credit for this....there are hundreds of variations of this same basic recipe all over the Internet. I have tweaked my own recipe to a degree, which has never let me down (even in taking care of the "funkiest" cloth diaper). It works great as a pre-treater, as well. Some folks have asked me if it works in front loading washers....which I do not have....but I DO know that I've seen an episode of The Duggar's where they make laundry soap using a very similar recipe...and they use front loading washers so I'll assume that it's o.k. but if you have a front loader, you may want to do a bit more research. Alright...here's how it's done (at least in our home):

You will need these dry ingredients:


Fels Naptha bar soap
Borax
Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
(the handsome 4 year old is optional :^)
*remember when I said that the soap has no scent? Well, I've seen some recipes where people add some essential oils....maybe lavender or tea tree oil. We don't do this, so I wouldn't know how much to tell you to add but I'm sure that you could dig around online and find out more.
**Also I should note that not all of these ingredients are carried in every grocery store....you may need to check around....I know that Market Basket has all 3 ingredients...but you can talk to your grocery store manager and they can start to carry these items in your local grocery store if you request them. I did this at the Price Chopper in Webster.

This recipe yields 3 gallons of soap at a time and is a slightly more concentrated soap than most of what I've seen elsewhere online. We need a strong laundry soap around here...we work hard...we play hard...we poop hard.

Wow...that was gross. let's just move on.

You will also need:
A big cooking Pot
1 wooden spoon
1 cup measuring cup
cheese grater
big plastic bucket (preferably with a lid w/ a pour spout)
Something to mix up the soap with (more on this later)

Here's a pic of the first 2 steps:


STEP 1: Fill the big cooking pot about 2/3 of the way with water and cover...bring to a boil. It doesn't matter exactly how much water is in the pot because you are basically going to cook up a concentrate that you will later add to more water to bring it up to the correct final volume of 3 gallons.
STEP 2: Grate the entire bar of Fels Naptha using the largest side of the cheese grater (watch those knuckles). When you are done grating, you should have a pile of something that more or less looks like this:



Step 3: Once the water boils, roll back the heat to medium and add the grated Fels Naptha. At this point you are going to have to stay pretty close to the pot....as there is a tendency for this stuff to boil over if left unattended. Use the wooden spoon and stir, stir, stir until the Fels Naptha is melted. Keep an eye on the heat...if the boil gets too aggressive, tone the heat down.
STEP 4: Once the Fels Naptha is melted, add 1 cup of the borax (slowly...adding it too fast can cause it to bubble over) and stir, stir, stir until the mixture feels fluid and not grainy at all.

Ivy getting ready to measure out some stuff.

Step 5: add 1 cup of the A&H Super Washing Soda in the same manner as the Borax.

Once the mixture is fluid with no graininess at all, kill the heat. Let it sit in the pot a minute.

Step 6: Add a gallon or so of COLD water to the bucket that you will be storing the soap in. Our bucket looks like this:

The fact that it has a pour spout on top is key. It makes the process so much easier. i think that this bucket used to carry Drive Train Oil...I think we got it from some local machine shop. At any rate, you should be able to pick up something similar at Home Depot or whatever.
STEP 7: Add the completed soap concentrate to the cold water in the bucket. Stir. I marked the 3 gallon volume on my bucket with a Sharpie so, at this point, I just use more cold water to fill the bucket to the right height.
STEP 8: Stick the lid back on the bucket...let sit for 12/24 hours.

After you let the soap sit...it basically sets up into a big gelatinous mass (kind of like when you refrigerate real turkey gravy...you know, all wiggly and gross?)
Now...here comes one of the last steps...breaking up this mass into a liquid. Now, keep in mind that this is not going to become a syrupy blue liquid like store-bought stuff, but rather a pale-yellow, kind of watery, kind of chunky slop. But, no worries, because it is all good once it's in the washing machine doing it's job.

STEP 9: Mixing up the soap.
I used to just use a large wooden stick to swish around and break up the chunks as best as I could. It worked o.k. but I was constantly clogging up the pour spout of the bucket with globby chunks that were too big to fit through. About 2 years ago, I switched to this contraption and life got much easier:

What you've got here is a big cordless drill with an attachment that is designed to mix up 5 gallon buckets of paint (can be found at any Home Improvement or Paint store) being wielded by a feisty 2 year old. Now..if you go this route, keep this in mind:
Make sure that the chuck (or, in layman's terms: the part where the drill bit goes into) of the drill will open up large enough to accept whatever stirring attachment that you decide to go with. I have 3 drills, and my stirrer only will fit onto 1 of them. Mix until it is as fluid as you can get it.
STEP 10: Keeping the Soap.
It is quite heavy and cumbersome to pour the soap from the big bucket right into the washer every time so I have kept a couple of old Tide bottles that I fill with my soap (this is where the pour spout on the bucket is KEY). Some folks might use empty milk jugs.
Some folks might make smaller batches of soap and not have to worry about this step at all.

Use it in the same amount that you would use store bought stuff.

And there you have it. Now...all that being said...if you ask 100 people who make laundry soap how they do it...you will probably get 100 different answers. It all comes down to how much you need, how strong you want it to be, and what you will be using it for. This recipe that we use has taken several years to fine tune.

I've never sat down and figured out on exact cost analysis of what I save by making this but, I can tell you that a bar of Fels Naptha costs about a buck-fifty. The Washing Soda and Borax cost about $3 a box, and each box probably has 12-15 cups in each...so...I figure that, give or take, I can make 3 gallons of my stuff for under 2 bucks....whereas it would cost me upwards of 30-40 bucks to buy the same amount at a store. That's savings I can't pass up.

I certainly believe that, for my family, making our own soap is something that helps us stay in obedience of the many scriptures about being skilled, resourceful, and good stewards of our money and time. It is something that my family does together...it is (most times) a blessing rather than a chore. I hope that you give it a shot and reap the same benefits (and $avings as our family has).

Happy Soaping.

A "Grand Caravan" Indeed.

So...my van is in the shop. It's taken a couple of days to take care of something that we anticipated being a 1 day fix. To make a long story short...I had to rent a car to get to work tomorrow. Alls I needed was something to get me to Worcester and back. I contacted a local car rental place in town and asked them to give me "the absolute cheapest" car they could rent me to get back and forth to work tomorrow. I was prepared to take a '73 Pinto...I just needed wheels. The guy at the rental place says "well, I don't have any economy cars left but I've got these 3 minivans sitting here...I can rent you one of those at 'economy' pricing, come on over".
I head over there thinking that I'm going to be rolling to work tomorrow in some sun-faded navy blue 1988 Plymouth Voyager with fake wood panelling.

Nope.

Ladies and Gentlemen...I give you the 2011 Dodge Grand Caravan Crew Flexfuel:



This baby was LOADED!!! They may have thought that they rented me a Minivan but, as far as I was concerned, they rented me a playground...and you better believe that, for 58 bucks, I was taking full advantage of this rig. This beast came complete with:


Retractable side windows.


"Stow-and-Go" seating...aka...DANCEFLOOR!!!


Ample drink holders.


Satellite Radio featuring a KILLER Grateful Dead Station. We caught a great Scarlet>Fire from 31 years earlier at The Spectrum in Philly....score! Also featuring....


"Reverse Gear Back-up Camera"...just to help ensure that you don't run over your family.
We pretty much spent the lion's share of the night hanging out in this rented hoop-dee...we had some snacks:


Watched a movie:


And dug the crazy-cool Star Treky running lights:


It's funny. My nature would usually be to get all cranked up that there's a snafu with vehicles and that I got to pay out of pocket and track down a rental car for the day. Instead, The Lord helped me to have a great attitude and turn something that could have easily been a drag into a Minivan Driveway Vacation Night for the fam. I couldn't think of a better way to blow 60 bucks.
The icing on the cake? The license plate:


Don't Mess With Texas...you got me?!

All this fun....and I haven't even driven it to work, yet.

Let's Lock It Down

I'll skip the small talk. I love disaster scenarios. My dad LOVES disaster scenarios. We like to be prepared. When the Ice Storm of 2009 missed us by 5 miles, my dad felt cheated. Cut to tonight...
They've been hyping this here hurricane Irene for a week now. I'm skeptical as to how intense this thing is actually going to be...but...I love getting ready for stuff like this. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, right?

We got some stuff together.....

Deck and yard are cleared. Took 12 inches of water out of the pool to account for rainfall.


Candles, lanterns, matches, emergency rain gear. Gavin and I gathered this stuff together, mostly just for the fun of it but...you never know, right?


A sampling of our food stores. I'm not privy to show the entirety of the stocks but, let's just say. We'll alright for quite a while, should the need arise.


The Pickle Contingency is in full effect.


We are a little light on the Diet Coke ratio. If need be, I could squeeze this out to a 5 day supply but, after that I may need to resort to looting.

Now...should things get nasty, I mean Defcon 4 nasty...if things look ferociously bleak and I need to pull out the big guns to get through this thing....we've got it covered:

If you have no idea what this is, I'm not even going to bother telling you. If you DO know what this is, then you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Hope all of you are safe and secure through this storm. Get prepared. Stay close. Be safe.

Tragedy, Triumph, Chainsaws, and Chicken

Matthew 6Do Good to Please God
1 “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 3 But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.
Before I even begin this post, please allow me this caveat: I am in no way posting this to bring any glory to myself or any personal efforts. It is mainly to serve as a remembrance for myself and my family...mainly...this post is for me....that being said...

I needed to write about my last 36 hours. As you may or may nor know, a devastating tornado ripped through our area (about 4-6 miles from our home) a week ago. Yesterday, my family and I went into the heart of the devastation to drop off some supplies to the Relief Center. I then drove us through an area that was mangled by this force of nature.....devastating. Homes which stood for decades reduced to splinters. Unimaginable devastation. I have never even come close to seeing, with my own eyes, tragedy anywhere near this level.
Yesterday, I spoke with someone in the area who said that their biggest need was "men with chainsaws". Folks are still in a place out there where they are digging themselves out of an avalanche of trees which may or may not have crushed their homes to nothing. I knew that the extent of my aid didn't end with dry goods. I went home and prayed.
About 1:30pm this afternoon I called Chrissy and told her that "I need to go back there, I need to help....I need to go and cut wood". She agreed.
I was unsure as to how I was going to approach helping the folks out there. My initial thought was to just bring out my chainsaw and find a house that needed aid and start cutting. But The Lord kept putting in my head these words...."make contact"...."make contact". I wasn't even sure what that meant.
There's a church in Brimfield which is serving as the hub for relief efforts. I placed a call to them this afternoon. The woman who answered the phone was very exasperated and it was apparent that she was carrying on several "live" conversations beyond the phone which she just picked up. I told her that I was a guy with a saw and willing to help out. After she gave instructions to someone next to her, she quickly gave me an address...."Just go there" she said..."just go there and help".
I had no idea what scenario I was walking into. I got home from work, scarfed down an egg salad sandwich that Chrissy made me and headed off to Brimfield with my saw...to this address.
When you are on Rt 20, leaving Sturbridge towards Brimfield...if you have your windows rolled down, the first thing that you notice is the smell. It smells fantastic. Like wood, sawdust, pine sap. If you're a "wood guy" and routinely burn and build with wood....these smells are wonderfully seasonal and nostalgic. But when you get a glimpse as to why the town smells like that....it represents the aroma of widespread destruction. I'm not sure that smell will ever be the same for me.
Anyway, I got to the address I was given (and I'm going to make a long story short here)..It turns out it's a residence. A family who didn't lose their home but did lose half their roof and about 80 of the 100 or so trees that were on their land. It was unreal to see. This was a community that was basically built in to the woods. Every lot had at least 30-50 trees on it...and now they are ALL gone.
I met the homeowner and within 5 minutes I knew that he was a Christian. (I had been praying that The Lord would sent me to the home of a Christian to help out, score one for The Divine). We talked about The Lord and trials and tragedy and growth through struggles, then we got to work. I ended up cutting and hauling wood for about 3 hours with him and other volunteers who were at his property.
I have read of this level of devastation, but have never witnessed it with my own eyes. It is literally indescribable. One of the most amazing things is how this community has rallied to help one another. The church "relief center" has been stellar. While we were cutting, a car pulled into the house lot...they were from the church delivering meals. "How many?" they shouted....and they delivered an amazing hot meal for each of the workers....they were 2 guys in their 60's driving around in this busted station wagon with about 100 meals packed in the back. They were just delivering to anyone in need. We took one for each worker....the food was incredible. Roasted Chicken, meatballs, pasta, salad, bread and butter....Wright's Chicken Farm would have been jealous of this meal....perhaps it was the exhaustion and dehydration but...it was an amazing meal that I will never forget. In addition, they had an array of materials donated by stores and individuals from all over....work gloves, tarps, fasteners, bungee chords....this crappy station wagon was like it's own little charitable Wal-Mart....I mean...tarps, 60'x40' that cost like 80 bucks a piece, were donated free to anyone in need. It was amazingly surreal.

When I left at about 8 pm, there were many other volunteers who were leaving for the day as well, many putting in many more hours than I had. When I pulled up to the traffic light at the Brimfield Town Common, I was greeted by two amazing things....The "relief center" church with church bells being played and a sign over their front door that read "Food and Rest" and a boy scout troop, about 40 strong....all standing there with handmade signs on posterboard which said "Thank You" and "You Rock" and "Great Work"...and at every change of the light they were going nuts....jumping up and down like it was a freaking Beatles concert...cheering for the folks who had sacrificed their time to help dig out this community from wonton destruction.

At the beginning of this blog, I had it in my head that I wasn't going to post it to Facebook, which I normally do, as not to draw excess attention to these acts. My intention is to only glorify The Lord through any of this but, I feel now as though I want to post it if only to inspire others to head out to Central Mass, get in the mix, and share God's Love, Mercy, and Service with those who need it now more than ever. Just get out there, you WILL be used.


The devastation, as viewed from outer space:

False Advertising

The advertisement for the product, as described on Amazon.com, is as follows:

"More than a dozen birds can perch and feed from anywhere on the Duncraft Squirrel Proof Blocker Selective Bird Feeder. The entire tube dispenses seed, yet squirrel paws and noses cannot reach inside to get to the seed source. Fill with black oil sunflower and watch the birds perch on the fencing, putting their heads through to select one seed at a time from the stainless-steel mesh tube."

The Reality:





This must be made by the same people that made the 2D High-Density Plastic Collapsible Weather and UV Resistant Full Color Coyote Decoy and Canadian Goose Deterrent...remember that?





read all about it here:

http://findtheblueheron.blogspot.com/2010/06/canada-goose-mind-freak.html

Ah well...at least the squirrels aren't crapping all over my backyard....yet.

Know that you Know that you Know.....

Remember the old Schoolhouse Rock PSA's that ran during Saturday morning cartoons? (do they even have Saturday morning cartoons anymore??) In their theme song were the lines "It's great to learn, 'cause knowledge is power".
They were onto something.
This post qualifies as "Stuff that rolls around in my head from time to time..."

It's important to know stuff. And that fact works on many levels.
On a basic social, entertaining, and somewhat pedestrian level:
It's important to know:
- 3 good "clean" jokes.
- 10 relevant-to-many-occasions Bible verses.
- A local place where you can get a good burger/taco (preferably with a good jukebox).
- How to parallel park (and drive stick shift...and drive around the closest big city to you without a map/GPS).
- How to rub/braise/smoke a rack of ribs.

I could go on and on with this list. There's literally thousands of stupid things the average person should know how to pull off. I'm sure there's tons that you'd like to add. Feel free to do so in the "comments" section of this blog.

Now, go a level or two deeper.

I recently had a conversation with a friend about home ownership and home maintenance. It went something like this:
"Back when our grandfathers were our age (30 somethings), what percentage of them would you say knew how to, and had the in-house resources to, change out a length of water pipe should it burst in the middle of the night in the middle of Winter?"
"Maybe 90-95%."
"I think that's right on. Now...When our parents were our age, what percentage of them could change out a length of water pipe should it burst?"
"Maybe 40-50%."
"That also, is probably close to being right on. Now, what percentage of homeowners our age, in our day, could change out a water pipe should it burst in the middle of the night, in the middle of Winter?"
"I dunno, maybe 10%?
"I think that's probably right on."

Do you agree?

What's happening here? This example of replacing a water pipe can be extrapolated out to include a huge array of skills:
carpentry, electrical, plumbing, automotive repair, fabrication, small engine repair, gardening, farming, home/business maintenance, accounting, you name it. The bottom line is that there is a major decline in "skill sets" for the average American.

The fact is....we are becoming more and more increasingly unskilled by the generation....and many are forced to rely on the few that continue to maintain that knowledge. And that "few" can pretty much charge whatever they want for their services.

I know of a family that had to pay $900 to replace 2 1/2 sheets of sheet rock due to some minor water damage. That's a $100 job at best....but...if you don't know how to do the work...you are at the mercy of those who do. They can sit and charge you whatever they want because, hey?!, what's your alternative? Let it sit and rot?

If one were to burst a water pipe in the middle of the night tonight and had to call a plumber...it'd cost you $250 (at least) before they even walked through the door. that's before they'd charge you $125 an hour plus materials to fix a water leak. (note: replacing a 4 foot piece of 1/2" copper pipe wouldn't cost more than $25 in materials). But...the fact is...you can't do it...they can...you are at their mercy.

Again...I could go on and on with stories and examples of why it's important to know how to do stuff. I'll spare you...

I dunno why I'm even posting this...maybe it's because there's 8 feet of snow everywhere. Roofs are collapsing all over the Commonwealth. There's going to be TONS of roofing/gutter/plumbing work to be done once this snow finally melts and there's going to be thousands of residents who are going to pay 30x over cost to get a job done that they could have done themselves with a little initiative, know-how, and a fraction of the $$ that they are going to shell out for someone else to fix it for them.

For anyone looking to get educated in these areas....
- there's TONS of DIY websites with thousands of videos posted on hundreds of different subjects. I learned how to change out the front brakes on my minivan as well as learned how to lay laminate flooring by watching these vids...and saved hundreds in the process vs. hiring someone to do the jobs:

http://www.diynetwork.com/

http://www.ehow.com/videos.html

If you are more of a "hard copy" learner...pick up the Home Depot "orange book". It's got just about everything you would need to know about any home improvement/maintenance issue that would arise.

I guess, for me and mine, it all comes down to preparedness. I have a desire to have a working knowledge of just about everything that I'd every have to deal with in maintaining/fixing/protecting/providing for my home. I've accumulated lots of knowledge/experience. I have TONS to learn.

I see things...like what is going down in Egypt right now. I think of the fathers there. I think about what is going through their minds. How to care for, maintain, provide for their families. What to do to protect and feed them. I want to hold a cache of resources and knowledge should that level of adversity every come against my community and family.

I guess at the end of the day, some stupid Saturday morning commercial kind of summed it up:

"Knowledge is Power"

Well...I don't need power...I need provision....and protection....and Knowledge helps bring about those as well.

That's enough for me. .

Blizzards and Birthdays part 1

First let me just say that I hope that all of you who read this had a wonderful and joyous Christmas day. We sure did.

It doesn't take much for our family to get excited. We revel in the simple pleasures of life....a frog caught....spotting a rare bird at the feeder....fresh garden veggies....iced coffee....tickle fights....snow storms.

Woke up this morning to this forecast on weather.com:



2 things...first: do you see that the forecast for the next 36 hours are bracketed in red? That means trouble...it also means awesome. Second...do you see the forecast under the "Tonight" heading? 1 word. Blizzard. BLIZZARD. YES!!!!! We're big on natural disasters around here. We spend lots of time, money, and energy getting ready for stuff like this. My pops and I feel that it's much better to be proactive and prepared than reactive and frantic. The Winter storm warning mentioned widespread power outages, 50 + mph wind gusts, and the possibility of 20+ inches of snow. Let's party.

We started by stocking our wood bin and hearth with 3 days worth of wood:


Between my dad and I, we've got a pretty good supply of wood, food, water, gas....probably enough to lock it down for several months if we had to. I credit him for instilling the attitudes of preparedness and pro activity in me. While others are scrambling to react to adversity...we are able to calmly deal with what comes our way with an attitude of preparedness. It may seem overkill to some...but the reality is, that it doesn't take that big an "X" factor for the average family to start panicking. 2 Winters ago there was an ice storm that knocked out power for thousands of families just North of here for 17 days. Most people had to scramble to figure out how they were going to survive....many families had to head to emergency shelters....our household would have hardly noticed.

In my families opinion...it's important to be prepared. Tonight there is a blizzard outside with wind gusts reported locally of 44mph....if a tree branch were to break off and smash through someones front window, would they have the knowledge and resources to be able to immediately deal with the situation? most wouldn't....If the power went out for days or the water were to get shut off or sanitation removal were to cease or if gas or food were rationed...would most households be able to survive without panic? It's sad to say that the answer is probably "no".

The Lord, through His Scriptures, has called us to be skilled and wise....I'll go ahead and include "prepared and proactive" in the definition of "wise". It's a joy to be able to enjoy this storm. My work called me this afternoon and cancelled for tomorrow. I get to ride this baby out prepared and protected alongside my family. That's a simple pleasure that I'll take any day. Here's a few more pics:


First Flakes

Here's how it looked at about 4:45 pm EST:



The call is for 15 to 20 more inches to fall before all is said and done. Bring it. We're ready.

On a completely separate note...my son turns 4 tomorrow. I can't even begin to believe that he's 4 years old. Someone is stealing months away from my calendar when I'm not looking, I swear it. He told me today that he doesn't want to turn 4 because he's afraid that Mommy and I won't care for him any more or carry him to bed. Sweet little soul. If he only knew that I'd do that 'til he's 30 if he'd let me.

We were planning on heading to Chuck E. Cheese for some birthday fun tomorrow, but given the present weather circumstances, we're gonna be home bound. Well, score another one for preparedness and pro activity....we dug through some old totes of old party stuff that we had stored downstairs and found a bunch of decorations that we used to dress up the dining room:



We decorated after he went to bed, so he'll be surprised when he wakes up. I know for a fact that he's not too old to be excited over a roomful of decorations and 2 feet of snow outside. I'm 36 and I'm not.


Once all is said and done and the snow totals are tallied, I'll post part 2 to discuss how we fared on all counts. Right now i've got to hunker down and get ready to party.

Hunkering Down

By this time last year, we already had enough snow to cancel school a few times. We awoke to a dusting this morning, but it won't be long before our first big snow, and Gavin, Pa, and I took the morning to batten down the hatches by taking care of a few outside chores while Mama and Ivy put on a MAJOR cleaning session inside.

I won't bore you or I by listing all the chores we did, but in completing these tasks, I remembered one thing that I had thought of late last winter that I wanted to build this year....a glove and hat drying rack near the wood stove.

We are outside ALOT throughout the Winter, and normally when we get back inside we just drape our wet stuff on the gate surrounding the stove...but there's always a glove or a hat that gets buried under some jacket and doesn't dry. Today Gavin and I took to the workshop again and whipped up this bad boy:



First, we selected a 1/2 round piece of split log off of the wood pile. Then we headed to the back yard and lopped off a few branches from one of the trees back there and cut them to size. We figured on making a 12-point rack...enough for 4 pairs of mittens and 4 hats.
Next we rounded the tips of the points using a grinding/sanding wheel and tapped them into the log using appropriate sized spade bits.
We secured them using wood glue and drywall screws screwed in from the under side.

At first, after we installed it on the windowsill, I thought it looked a little cracky and ominous. But the more I look at it, the more I like it....and, from a functionality standpoint...it's going to be super convenient. Here's how it looks with the rest of the stove area:




I can't wait for that thing to be filled with hats and mittens all soaked through from a session of sledding/quadding/snow forts/snow angels/snowmen....gear drying....fire roaring....family warming....cocoa flowing....bring it on, Winter.

We're ready :^)

Tree Trimming....literally

This time of year, I love driving down the road and seeing a family driving the opposite direction with their Christmas tree tied to the roof of their car. Selecting, transporting, and erecting the Family Christmas Tree is such a fun kickoff to this wonderful season. Our family joined the party this weekend. In years past, we've hit random roadside tree lots to select our tree. This year, we wanted to cut our own....Not so much for experiences sake, but more for functionality. Our home is a bit on the dry side with the fireplace going 24/7 and trees seem to brittle up pretty quickly in here. Also, we are having some family up from Jersey in early January and wanted the tree to still be in pretty good condition late in the season. So, we figured that fresher was better. There's a guy about 1/4 mile from our home who owns a couple acres and has planted some Christmas trees to cut yourself...the trees aren't the fullest you've ever seen, but they're pretty enough. And for 25 bucks, you can't go wrong. It was nice buying local and supporting a neighbor. Anyway, here's how it played out....


looking....


still looking...


Found It!! Now, a couple of things about this photo....

1. The chainsaw. Not the way our forefathers did it, but look, here's the deal...anytime you go to a "cut your own Christmas tree" place, they send you off into the woods with some old, rickety, dull, rusty, busted hand saw that looks like it should be hanging on the wall of a Cracker Barrel...sure it looks all old timey and what not, and probably nice in the family photo of the event, but the reality is that it's fun for about 5 seconds, then the nostalgia of the moment wears off real fast when dad is on his knees in the freezing cold just sawing and sawing and sawing and sawing and sawing....I'm all set with that. let's fire up the Stihl get to gettin'.

2. We have 8 foot ceilings in our living room...This tree is just under 12 feet tall...looks like a drastic miscalculation, right? Well, only sort of...we all really liked this tree...it's got these really cool short, stubby, rounded needles...not all jabby like a usual Christmas tree. We decided to cut it down, lop off the top 4 feet or so, and reshape the new "top" to look more Christmas tree-ish...It ended up coming out great.


Cuttin' her down....


Loadin' her up


My Girls decorating





These 2 photos are like a microcosm of our lives...we do things together as a family, give our children opportunities to try things and experience life under our close supervision and guidance, and do our best to help them avoid blunt force trauma from nosediving off a chair.



"I never thought it was such a bad little tree. It's not bad at all, really. Maybe it just needs a little love." - Linus Van Pelt


Here's to hoping for a blessed Christmas season to you and yours.

I'm Floored

You've heard me say that we live in the house that my parents previously occupied ....anyway...about 15 or so years ago, before we moved back to MA, my folks were on a big "beach house" kick and decided to decorate their home in a beachy motif...which included model lighthouses at every turn and light, off-white carpet. It just so happened that the dining room was also carpeted. Fast forward to us moving in, having kids, and living in this home.....off-white carpeting and 2 little kids = bad news...ESPECIALLY when it's in the dining room.

Chrissy and I had been talking about putting some hardwood or laminate flooring in the dining room for years....well, we saved some cash and when push came to shove and back in June or July I promised Chrissy that she would have new flooring in the dining room by Thanksgiving....the clock was ticking, and it all came down this weekend. I've never laid flooring before so it was a bit of an adventure...throw in some baseboard moulding and thresholds and this project got a bit complicated....but, I got to gettin' and it turned out alright.

I'd like to thank the fine fellows at Lumber Liquidators, Home Depot, and Youtube DIY vids for helping make this happen...not to mention my dad, who taught me just about everything I've ever learned about tools, machinery, and building....my wife thanks you too.

Before:




After:




We've got a saying around here, especially in the areas of home improvement and maintenance projects...."Daddy Done It".

Daddy Done It refers to a home project that gets taken care of by daddy....it may not turn out as sweet as if a professional came in and did it...if you look hard enough, you can find all sorts of little mistakes....but Daddy Done it...we saved a ton of money by doing it ourselves, it looks quite good enough...and daddy took care of business for his family. Win. Win. Win.

I remember back in the day when Chrissy and I lived in New Jersey...We lived in a house with her mom and twin sister....Chrissy's dad had passed away about 10 years earlier. Chrissy and I lived upstairs in an attic room that was finished by her dad before the twins were born. She'll be the first to admit that her dad was no carpenter. I remember there was this closet door...the moulding at the bottom of the door frame was about 2 inches from the corner of the wall....by the time he got to the top of the door, it was out of square and the moulding was about flush to the wall corner. It wasn't the most pro job ever....if you looked hard enough, you could see the error...BUT...Daddy Done It. His kids needed a place to sleep and a closet. His desire to provide for his family outweighed his talent but, no matter, there was a job that needed to be done and he did it. At the end of the day, the closet door worked, the room was finished, his kids had a fine place to live, he upped his home improvement skills, and he saved a ton of cake by doing it himself. Win. Win. Win. Win. Win.

I never met Chrissy's dad. He passed away about 5 years before I met Chrissy...for me, he lives only in stories told by his children and a few faded photos that Chrissy holds on to. But I always remember that door frame in that attic room on 116 Stratford Ave. in Westmont, New Jersey. And today, as I was laying this floor, thinking the whole time of the blessing it was going to be to my family...I feel like I spent the morning with Chrissy's dad, Al Shipe...in my mind, he was rooting me on...proud of the job that I had done...proud that I was providing for my family despite that the task was foreign and a bit daunting...and not giving a damn about the little mistakes that I made.

Not much to say, but....

...beavers cut down 3 of our apple trees.


this means war.

i've been trying to look on the bright side of this, and so far all I've got is.....at least i'll have some nice apple wood to use to smoke some ribs next summer.....AND.....once I put a well placed .22 or .223 in it, i'll have a cool pelt to tack to the wall of the workshop......no, that's just the bitterness talking ;^)

maybe not.


alas, nothing gold can stay.

Mouse Count

11

you'd think they'd have caught on by now.

Mouse Count...

8


I don't know whether to laugh or cry

Deep Thoughts on Mousetraps

Summer is dead.

Much like planting season this year, Autumn has decided to arrive a bit early. Signs, smells, and sounds of Autumn are abundant around hear these days. One sound especially lately....the distant **snap** of a mousetrap downstairs ridding another pest from our basement.
This morning at 6:30 the outside thermometer read "38.8"...that kind of temp sends those little mice scurrying for warmer spots, my basement being one of them.

4. I've caught 4. In 2 days.

I guess that I view those mice the same way that I view just about any other living thing...I'm more than happy to live peaceably with you in this big world, and maybe we'll be fortunate enough that our paths will cross in a meaningful way for some length of time, but if you enter my home, without permission, with selfish intent that puts the safety and/or well being of my family in jeopardy, chances are that you aren't making it out alive.

Now it's going to be right about **here** as you are reading this where you probably say to yourself something like "Wow...he's a bit of an extremist"...but, the reality is....those cute little twitchy-nose mice will eat through my stores of food, gnaw through and ruin anything soft that they can get their teeth on to build themselves a nest, leave droppings everywhere and basically contaminate everything that they scurry across. No thanks.

Part of me is reluctant to admit it, but the truth is I get giddy, and maybe even a little adrenaline rush when I find one in the trap. Last night I was headed for bed when I heard the thing snap shut and I barely touched a step as I rushed downstairs to see If I got one. I did.

It's dorky, I know, but I think that it plays to some primal instincts that humans (males, specifically) are hard-wired with: to provide and to protect.
I think that maybe finding one of those suckers in a trap tickles the same part of my brain that was tickled generations ago in some frontiersman after he shot some bear that was threatening his family. In both cases, there's the satisfaction and relief that you just protected your family against a threat. On much different scales, obviously, but the principle is the same.

Men were designed to provide for and protect their family/village/country, etc. It's in our chemical make-up. No wonder why everything is a sword or gun to a 4 year old. He's actually SUPPOSED to be thinking along those lines. Provide. Protect. Men need to be capable of performing acts of violence. For centuries and centuries every man needed to have the physical and psychological ability to hunt, trap, kill, disembowel, and dismember another living thing to provide for his family. Also, they had to be capable of, without hesitation, be able to stamp out another human life should a direct threat to the lives of their family be posed.

Today's culture is an interesting one. There's much less need to perform these violent acts to protect and provide for our families. Our protecting and providing are, for the most part, done for us. Our food is killed by someone else. We are protected by locks and walls and security systems and police....which is all great, but that hard-wiring is still there. That God-given ability to be able to perform that violent act in the name of provision and protection is still very much there, it's just that there's no longer and outlet for it.

I wonder if there would be as much crime, murder, and sexual perversion in our culture if we still had to hunt and kill things to provide and to protect our family. I wonder if much of the violence that is present in our society isn't misguided flare-ups of our primal instincts. I mean, let's face it, on some level, it's fun to be violent. It's cathartic. Don't believe me? Go down to your basement, wrap a light bulb in a towel, and smash it with a hammer...listen to it shatter and *pop* It's feels GREAT, right? Next time you are getting rid of some major appliance and it's out at the curb for the garbage truck to take away, whip a brick at it, or slam it with a bat. You can't tell me that on SOME level, maybe WAAAAYYYYYY deep down in your spirit, in a place that you don't want to admit exists, but on SOME level, it feels amazing.

I have no solution here, not even much of a point, really. I don't expect that any of us will stop shopping at Market Basket and start plinking squirrels to feed the family, but I do think that it's important to recognize that these emotions and capabilities exist in all of us, and we shouldn't rely on our society for as much and provide more for ourselves and our families. For our family:
We garden: I am providing vegetables and fruit for my family that I have planted and cultivated.
We heat our home with wood: We have a few years worth of wood that my father and I have cut and hauled. Every year at about this time, we cut and split 6 or 7 cords down to fireplace length to heat our home. If it's cold, it's up to me to work to keep our home warm. I am providing warmth and comfort for my family.
We don't watch tv: Entertainment media is annihilating entire generations of human beings and reducing them to mindless consumers. We spend tons of time with our kids and do all sorts of entertaining, educational stuff together. Our kids don't give 2 hoots about tv. I am providing positive, engaging activities for my family.

This all may read as kind of pompous and prideful, which is not my intent at all. As this blog post went along, I think I ended up writing it mostly for myself. But I think that, if I were trying to get a point across, it's that we can do much more than we think to provide for and protect our families, which, in the end, makes us feel better and more fulfilled, but more importantly, pleases the LORD.

I gotta run, I think I just heard a **snap**.

Shorn

We loved the tussled mop-top, but it's too darn hot in July. It was time for them to go. We set the kid up on the kitchen counter with a barber's cape and a Tootsie Pop and daddy got to shearing:

Before



After



Gosh, he looks like he's 15....where does the time go?

Fail

Canada Goose Mind Freak

I have a problem.

I have geese.

Canadian Geese... or "Canada" Geese, to be ornithologically correct.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm big into birds, especially water foul. The blog name says it all. There are scores of different types of birds that stroll by our bird feeders every day. And I'm getting better at identifying of them. I love 'em. And I love the Canadian Geese, too. Every year we see 6 or 7 families of geese who live in our pond. I don't have a problem with them.

Just with their poo.

It's everywhere.

It's EVERYWHERE!!

Our lawn is full of clover, the geese love the stuff. They eat it like it's their job and leave these disgusting landmines of goose poo all over the place.


Look at them...looking all smug, trying to act like they didn't just poo all over my lawn

Usually, our best solution is to send the boy down to chase them out of the yard and into the water. But they come back. They always come back.
I'm trying a new solution. A solution that I bought online. A solution that I paid retail price for. For those of you who don't know me well enough...this is very, VERY not my style.

Our philosophy on purchases, for the most part, is "make what we can, fix what we break, and if we have to buy it, get it on sale". This attitude mostly came from my family not having much money when I was growing up.

BUT...for the amazing low price of $21.95 (plus shipping and handling) we have an artificial food chain deterrent singularly manifesting itself in my back yard as we speak. Are you ready to see it?


See it yet? Wait for it....


Waaaaaiiiiittttt fooooorrrr iiiiiiiitttttt..........



That's right, it's a......


2D High-Density Plastic Collapsible Weather and UV Resistant Full Color Coyote Decoy!!!!!

I know, I know...there's no way it's going to work, right? We'll see, but so far....


It scared the snot out of the cat.

We'll see how this one plays out. Stay Tuned.