Dewey finally got in and we got quite a bit of stuff started here, including some homestead planning the children and I will get started on.
He arrived home loaded to the gills with garden seeds...and peat pots to start them in...and seed starter to plant them in. Ten bags of seed starter...a gazillion seed packets for everything you can think of...and 744 3in. peat pots!
I have no windows that allow much for lighting really here, and with temps dropping off and on still into rather cold nights, the porh isn't really a good place for starts either. So, we picked up some cheap shelf units and built a seed starter home ;o)
ugh...and of course, they don't want to load up from the computer now ;o( I'll try again later.
We live in a really spacious home, you know...not. We put these things together, then tried to figure out where they were going to sit. We bought some grow lights for them, as well, so I needed a place with an accesible outlet. You would think that would be an easy find, having an electrician for a husband...again, not. We finally settled on one wall, where my table sits, and they now cover the bulletin board.
It's not an ideal location in terms of practicality, but it's what I've got to work with. I had to keep the two shelf units together -- those dumb lights are some $10 each, then another $10 on the grow bulbs! I bought 4 lights and 8 bulbs and nearly choked. I'm going to make them as useful as I can...we'll grow plenty of violets and take them along to sell at the farm market. Any other uses you can think of?????
So, my table is in the middle of that half of the living space now, the shelves along the wall, our big school board still open and in use, and to make more room here so we weren't climbing over furniture to get in and out of the house, I sent the couch along to eldest son :o) Yes, we are now a couchless family, but really, no one much cares. We never really used it that much and no one ever comes over to visit, so what we have is just fine. We still have the recliner, then it's the dining room table and chairs :o) That's where we end up spending our time anyway -- at the table.
I know they have granted that extension for the digital switch-over, but our PBS and NBC stations are going digital on the original target date anyway. Woohoo. The children were hoping for some sort of reprieve with television. They enjoy Nature, Masterpiece Theater and such. I do like our local news...well, only the weather portion. They do have excellent storm coverage when needed. Oh, well. I am ready for the TV to be just a pretty (ugly) box in the cabinet there. Special occasion video watching :o)
I am getting a better quality weather radio. I found one in the new Emergency Essentials catalog, but I don't know if it's the one I want yet. I like that it's solar, hand-crank and battery operated. There is also an adapter you can get for charging cell phones. Does anyone know anything about other good weather radios out there I should look into?
Today on the homestead....geography lessons! The middles were looking for Arkansas and ended up in China. LOL....they had the wrong map altogether, but still...we need some serious map skills if that's as close as they can get! Not that we aren't just a suburb of China with all the items sold on local shelves these days...
We are canning more meat up, and I must get some patterns drafted off for a couple of friends. I put it off at first, then 'life' caught up with us and I couldn't get to it. Poor Sister Penny has been so patient, but she;ll be nekked soon if I don't get a move on!
If all goes well, we might get the chance to play Farm-opoly tonight. Or Horse-opoly. Dewey bought both at TSC while pricing fence posts and fencing for the homestead. And tillers. He found what he wants, in lieu of one for the tractor. And an auger -- for the tractor, not one for us to use by hand. Yes, we have a good old fashioned post hole digger here, but if we had to rely on that for fencing installation, we'd have critters free-ranging all over this mountain side! I cannot, even on a good day, with soggy rain-filled soil and no pain in my wrists, work that blasted thing. I'm all for one on that tractor. I could put in fence posts all day and night with one of those pretty little things ;o)
Now, that soapbox I mentioned:
I know this is a very controversial topic, but I have to just say one little comment...really, just one....
I watched the interview on TV with Nadya S. -- the octuplets mother. And I read the bit from her mother on radaronline.com where the Today Show link lead me.
I'm not saying right or wrong or any of that. It's one of those topics, plain and simple. Like The Duggars, The Pearls, and Michael Bunker. You either find things you agree with and believe to be right on the money, or you hate the very sound of their names. There aren't many who find middle ground with those particular names at all. These octuplets are causing the same emotional stir across blogs and forums as well.
My only comment...my last comment if I can help it (self-restraint isn't really my strong suit...but I will try...) is this. She was very polite in terms of any comments about her mother. She said her mother has been a great help and comfort in her time in the hospital, taking care of the siblings at home, allowing her the time to be with the babies, etc. Her mother, however, laid immediate blocks and remarks across newspapers and online notes. She will not help any of these children any longer. She will not help in their care in any way and has not supported her daughter's wacked out decision to have these new 'kids' from day one.
Some prize Grandmother that one is. I'm sure those children will be feeling the love just radiating from their grandmother as they grow...not. No wonder the daughter felt so strongly about having children and making a 'connection' with them that she lacked.
I don't care one hoot if she agrees with her daughter's choice or not, it's a moot point at this stage now isn't it? Don't provide money, don't provide help of any kind. Turn her out onto the streets. That isn't important at all. Agree with her choices or don't. But to allow those children to grow knowing that they are basically hated and totally unwanted by their own grandmother? That's just wrong. I realize this grandmother is probably looking at this as her "tough love" stand or something, but that stand should be against her daughter -- not innocent children who did nothing but be born. Hardly their fault they popped into a dysfunctional family with issues that go way back.
Ok, there, I'm done. Really. I'm done.
4 comments:
You asked about a different use for those UV grow lights, and I have a story to share: When my mom moved up to WA from CA, she had a collection of some 100 different cacti. Knowing that the WA weather would not provide adequate sunlight so she purchased (tons) of lights and metal shelving. Eventually, they all made their way into the "office" which, though it held a computer, really looked more like a greenhouse.
Then my son was born 2 weeks early. Not too bad, but there had been a lot of pregnancy complications and the last thing I wanted was to stay longer in the hospital. My poor son was just plain tired and refused to eat and therefore developed a case of jaundice. His levels remained barely safe enough to go home, but we were required to come back to have blood work done every day. My mom suggested we use the lights, so we made a cradle out of an old cardboard box and set my son close to the lights. The first day we didn't notice much change, so my mom moved some plants and we placed my son (with a mask) directly under those lights wearing only a diaper. His bilirubin count had gone down substantially the next day and after one more night under those lights his count was doing well enough that we didn't need to come in for monitoring anymore!!!
So, there is a somewhat random and possibly completely unhelpful reason to keep those lights around! :)
I never would have thought to use grow lights. My only bili baby was years ago...we just left her lying on a blanket in the warmth of a sunny window.
LOL...now I feel rather old :o)
Right now, that's what our living room /dining room looks like...a cramped mini greenhouse. It will look more like it once the plants are all started!
Thanks for the tip!
Deanna
Hi Deanna,
I just can't agree with you more. I think that people have forgotten that these children are the Lords first. He has a plan for each and everyone of them. I have no doubt that their mother loves each one of them with everything in her. A trait that many women lack these days. We don't know all of the paticulars and probably never will. But the fact remains that they are wonderfully made children of God. And for all those people who can't get past the fact that she isn't married, Mary wasn't married either. That did not stop the Lord from choosing her. He is God and could have found a married virgin if he had wanted to. They are here. The world is a blessed place because of it. God will provide. He always does. I remember a wonderful Godly Aunt telling me when I was young that "If I waited until I thought I could afford children I would never have them. It was up for God to decide not me." I believe that if the Lord did not want these children here, they would not be here. They are not anyless valuable due to there origins. Sorry I am on your soap box. I tend to be pretty opionated too.
In Christ
Dawn
this Oma aka Meme could never stop loving on her g'kids- I do not understand why folks are not willing to help the babies- certainly the mama could never get rich off the money - trusts could be set up etc. sigh- this is about 8 wee babies who need to eat and etc. all at once- God must have decided to give them life as he knit them together- I hope grandma wakes up and shuts up- yes = she can have an opinion re daughter but wee ones always need to know that they are needed- look- we are standing on the soap box together- hugs from Meme
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