Snow Baby

One of the things that was instilled in me from an early age is my duty to take care of all of God's creatures and adopt any stray wild ones that may cross my porch as my own. While I wasn't homeschooled, a love for nature is an essential part of Who I Am. And although we lived in the suburbs, I learned valuable lessons about wildlife at an early age.

I learned that sometimes your mother is fast and furious at making peanut butter sandwiches at 11PM because raccoons are scratching at the back door. Often this entails watching the raccoons pull the edges off the peanut butter sandwiches because "we don't liiii-iiike the ed-ges," and as a result you must stand firm in your resolve to love them nonetheless. As a homeschooling mom, that duty has been expanded to actively be aware of any and all opportunities for learning and to jump on them as "teachable moments."

If it means getting the girls out of bed in the middle of the night to have a field trip at the living room window for an impromptu lesson on nocturnal creatures, this, too, must be borne:

If it means not banging on the window when the nocturnal creature with a prehensile tail and more teeth than any other land animal (I didn't know that!) is using those sharp teeth to chew at the gourd you so carefully hollowed out to feed the pretty little wrens, chickadees, titmice, nuthatches and such, then so be it.

If it means being glared at because there are no peanut butter sandwiches on hand and the handmade suet balls are secured tightly in a cage overhead, then it means you must kindly but firmly say good night and rustle your little girls into bed because, after all, then they don't need to be challenged by a pointy-nosed marsupial who was once a staple of southern cookery. This what its all about: Passing down treasured family traditions of feeding wild animals on the porch and teaching your girls essential knowledge like, for instance, that their night-time visitor gets her name from the Algonquian (Indian) word for "white dog." Sigh.

Save the Dates!

Two upcoming events in the Alleghany Highlands:

The C&O Historical Society is sponsoring a train show at the Clifton Forge Armory on Saturday, February 20, all day. For more information, call (540) 862-2210. We went last year and there were model layouts of various sizes, loads of train items for sale, railroad antiques, books and more. This year there will be an appraiser on hand as well as a consignment table. Admission is $4 adults/$2 children and includes the C&O Heritage Center. Dunno if the steam engine will be available for rides; I guess it just depends if we STILL have snow on the ground or not! Click here for the website for more details. Come on out!

If you can't make it to that, put the Highland Maple Festival on your to-do list. We've been 3 years and enjoy it immensely. Its over two weekends: March 13/4 and March 20/21 in Highland County. Most of the action is in Monterey, but there are special events in Blue Grass, Hightown, McDowell and down (up?) on 220. You can go to the Highland County Chamber of Commerce's website here for more information. Stay in Covington, and its a beautiful 1-hour drive north to the festivities.

Snow Pictures

" Somebody help me up, Mama!"

"Mama, come under the trees!"

The Look.

She's not really up to her neck in snow; she's sitting on the back sidewalk that was shovelled out the other day and looking across the snow. Its really that deep, though...

Romping through almost-knee-deep snow...

Backyard...the square thing in the left foreground is our fire pit with the benches to sit on.

Our house - taken from our neighbors' (Heidi & Joe)(isn't it a riot that there are Heidis on either side of Johnson Creek Road??) porch across the street.

The Girl Who Does Not Get Cold. Also: The Girl Who Lost Another Tooth Yesterday.
The Girl Who Does Not Wear a Hat. There will be 2 hats found in the spring thaw.

Cows in the pasture at the end of the block. I stopped the truck and said, "HEY COWS!!" and the (red) bull turned around to glare at me.

The house again as seen from Heidi & Joe's house.

Perspective as to how much snow is on the ground. We got another 4" today. As of noon, it had stopped snowing, but we're forecast for more today, Wednesday, and - rumor has it - Friday!

Standing by the picnic table in the back yard looking north....through my neighbor's yard.

Standing in the road looking southeast. The roads were completely clear yesterday except for a few icy pactches!

And the driveway was COMPLETEly clear :(

New Kids on the Block

Something's been brewing in Clifton Forge.....

Two new restaurants opened recently ....

We took the girls here, to Jack Mason's Tavern the other night. This really is a place that has something to offer everyone. The food ranges from appetizers to sandwiches to more gourmet entrees, it includes a kids' menu....and of course, fish and chips in keeping with the pub atmosphere. Prices were reasonable and both the food and the service were great. Anyone would feel comfortable here - the seating included cozy leather armchairs in front of a gas fireplace, bar seating, family-style seating for large parties, tall tables and booths. The game room in the back scores major points with the Ms. PacMan/Galaga video game, a pinball game, dart board and TWO pool tables. (Next visit I'll set the high score on Ms. PacMan; I think I still have it in me). We saw folks from all over the area - representing all walks of life. Jack Mason's reminds me of the little restaurants in Shockhoe Slip in Richmond or in downtown Fairfax.

Frankly, I'm saving my trip to the Old Forge Coffee Company for a "Daddy Day" (when Andy has the girls for a couple hours). I want to linger over coffee or hot chocolate in what looks to be a quiet place full of comfortable chairs and books to peruse. I actually promised to take Hannah here on her own when she masters "tea time manners," a bribe, yes, but this is what's in it for me! Old Forge is right next door to Jack Mason's and is another reason to make downtown Clifton Forge a destination. I'll let you know how my visit goes, but if you've already been or if you make it there before me, comment below to let me know what you like best!

What assets to Clifton Forge and the Alleghany Highlands!

Lost Tooth

A Very Important Thing happened after church last Sunday.

I was a little concerned, because Hannah doesn't turn 6 until October, and for some reason I was thinking that "6" was the magic number in the dental realm. Alas, there is another bottom tooth that is loose, so it appears that we have officially entered into the business of the tooth fairy.

In case you're wondering, the going rate for baby teeth is anywhere from $.50 to $5 for the first and $.50-$2 for each successive one. I did a quick Facebook poll and of 20 mamas who replied, this was the average.

We decided to go with a $1 Sacajawea coin and a $1 bill. That way she can save the one, spend the other. Plus, with her fascination about Indians, we figured it was a good way to kill two birds with one stone. See, Butterfly just knew that she would appreciate the extra effort.

Who is Butterfly? Hannah's tooth fairy, of course! She was a little bit stunned that I didn't remember the name of MY tooth fairy - and she said she was going to ask her good friends in Sunday School what their respective tooth fairies names were. I hope she's not too disappointed, for truly, this was the first time I'd ever thought they would even have a name.

I told Andy we'll have to either stock up on Sacajawea coins or just go with the $1 for each successive teeth. This could get expensive....not exactly our most frugal venture, but it will be a chance to teach about saving and spending, right?

Abbo wanted to get in on the action, too, as she shows off an expensive ($500) tooth of her own.

Bones

Had my last visit to the orthopedist in Roanoke (a 140-mile round trip, thankyouverymuch) yesterday, and they gave me this picture - look ma, its me!

Loooookin' good!

The metal will stay in place; it ain't goin' no-where with all those screws - at least 24 - to remove. And I have the option to go to physical therapy if I need it - I still have about 10% loss of range of motion and strength, but I think that will just have to come back gradually. Besides, I don't think the little girls are going to put up with too many more of mama's doctor visits :)

Homemade Laundry Soap, Part 3

Here goes the final installment of the series!

After a month or so of use, we've decided that homemade powdered soap is definitely the way to go. Here's why:

1. Powdered is less messy to use. The "liquid" version has the consistency of runny oatmeal, and comes out in clumps when poured. Its hard to control portions. When shaken in the recycled liquid laundry bottle, it oozes out of the top from the lip/pour spout.
2. Powdered seems to work better. The powdered recipe I've used contains the same ingredients as the liquid version, minus the water, with the addition of baking soda. Perhaps this makes the water even softer so that the other ingredients can clean better? I dunno. But although both clean normally soiled loads as well as store-bought versions, the powdered just seems to do a little better on mud stains (which, in this season of my life, are prevalent).
3. In her book, The Tightwad Gazette, Amy Daczyn pointed out that liquid laundry detergents cost more per load of use than powdered. It seems that the same holds true....once you explain to your husband that you only need 1/5th a scoop per load and not a whole, heaping scoop per load. Also, in purchasing liquid soaps, you're purchasing an ingredient that is essentially free: water.
4. My ma asked what the different recipes smell like. Well, you KNOW that is a pointless question to ask me. I have no idea. But it would probably be easier to add a few drops of your favorite essential oil to the liquid concoction, although not impossible to the powdered, it would be difficult to ensure it was wholly mixed. Maybe some lavender blossoms would work through the whole batch? I don't think it has any smell without it. But, then, it depends what bar soap is used.
5. Andy made a new batch of powdered detergent using what we had on hand because (see #3, above). .... We used a bar of Ivory soap and 1 1/2 bars of Octagon. Many recipes call for Ivory soap (99 44/100% pure, plus it dissolves well), but I wanted to use Octagon too since its touted as a stain-fighter, and we've lost so many clothes over the years here to stains. The new recipe, using Ivory soap for part of the mix, seemed to work well on the first few loads.
6. Its easier to store powdered soap, too. We put ours in a large cleaned out "Tidy Cats" litter container that has a snapping lid. I'd tried to pour the liquid into milk jugs, but they were hard to fill due to the consistency of the detergent, and using a funnel to get it in there just made the mess worse.

You don't need a recipe to MYO fabric softener. Just add a 1/2 cup white vinegar to the last rinse. Vinegar "kills" the soap and allows for a clean rinse. There's no smell afterwards, either (that is, so I've heard, and Andy has never reported one).

So I think we're going to go this direction for awhile. Making our own powdered soap takes about 15 minutes, start to finish, and costs less than buying a good quality laundry detergent from WM, even with coupons.