Christmas and Incarnation

Our Advent Blocks

The big day is almost here and we can’t slow down the Advent clock.  How’s that checklist coming along?

• Lights strung (yes)
• Nativity displayed (yes)
• Baking complete (almost)
• Presents wrapped (no!)
• Menu planned (yes)
• Food and ingredients bought (yes)
• Christmas Music playing (yes)
• Cards sent (yes)
• Gingerbread houses made (yes)

Hmmm what would happen if I answered “no” to every item on my list?  What if I don’t do anything on my list?  Will Christmas still come?  Imagine December 25th with no gifts, no lights, no delectable sweets, no stockings, no music, no pageants... would it still be Christmas?

It all depends on what we define as “Christmas”.  I think that most Christians would agree that we celebrate the birth of Jesus on December 25th, but over the years we have tacked on many traditions to commemorate this sacred event - cards, candies, trees, lights, presents, pageants, and a chubby man in a red suit (wait, where did he come from?).

It seems as though there are two separate celebrations going on; one where materialism and sentimentalism greatly influence the hustle and bustle of this time of year, and the other is an attempt to recognize Jesus as Mary's miraculous child.  Corey and I have tried to bridge the gap of this dichotomy we call "Christmas", but every year, after a thoughtful evaluation we have found the conundrum of Christmas to be unresolved.  How do we make Christmas meaningful and communicate to people that we are engaging in something different, set a part, holy?

We have come to the realization that "Christmas" can be whatever people in our secular society deem it to be, but in an effort to secure this high feast day, this remembrance of God becoming a helpless baby so that we who are slaves to sin can be set free to serve Him, we have decided to call the 25th Incarnation Day.  You don’t need cards, candies, presents, lights and trees to celebrate the Incarnation of The Son of God.  What you do need is time to reflect on this supernatural truth, time to read, think, sing, and share with your children, your spouse, and loved ones. 

I am not advocating that Christians promptly collect all their Christmas doo-dads and throw them in the dumpster, however we should be careful that Christmas does not keep us from reveling in The Incarnation.  By drinking deeply of Christ’s condescension and the Father’s love there should be an outpouring of joy and gratitude, and The Spirit may move you to give gifts, make tasty treats to share, string up colorful lights, decorate an evergreen, sing carols, or ring a bell at a grocery store.  None of these things are bad, and none of them are necessary.

What I am advocating is that we do what we do all unto the glory of God, the Most High.  Choose your Christmas traditions and activities wisely, relish the Incarnation, and enjoy! 

                          

Instead of just wishing you a Merry Christmas, I wish you an Incarnation Celebration brimming with hope, reverence, and laughter.

Just a Little Bit of Christmas

The Thanksgiving dishes have been washed, dried, and put away or just tossed in the trash and the sound of the Advent calendar clock is tick, tick, stocking, oops I mean tocking!  I don't know when it started, but I get stressed out this time of year.  I can even remember not sleeping for the whole Advent season one year.  I think I was pregnant but I can't remember with whom!

What presents shall we buy?  Will we get a tree this year?  Will I actually bake for the neighbors this year?  How many lights will I put up outside?  How about that family photo?  EEEkkk!

When we came back from our Thanksgiving trip from the desert I had Isaac take down all two of our Christmas decor boxes from the attic in the garage.  I did get rid of a lot of "stuff" before we moved.  Last Christmas I purged the non-essentials before I put the boxes back in the garage.  When I opened the boxes I felt overwhelmed.  What am I going to do with all of this?

You see, at our last home I had a set place for everything, but now there are not set places, no traditions.  So I did what any rational woman would do, I got out even more boxes.  I brought in the rest of the framed art and photographs and decided that they should be hung first and then I could handle the Christmas bric-a-brac.

It took about a week of trial and error and some major grumpiness on my part, but pictures did get hung.  I managed to hang most of them myself, even though Corey is the official picture hanger.  He is just so good at it, and I really don't like to take the time to do it right.  But I decided to grow up, and do it myself and, yes, I did pound some nails in the wrong places but that is O.K. because Corey filled them :)

Front door entry way

It was actually nice to see all our "wall art" with fresh eyes and to make different combinations with objects from our old house and new things that we have picked up or made since living here.  The wooden board above the entry way shelf was salvaged by me from one of Corey's demolition projects on our property.  I hot-glued different varieties of pine cones that the kids found or that I picked up on my walks with Willa.  The holes in the wood board where already there so it seemed appropriate that it should be hung somewhere.

pine cone plaque

As you can see, I did finally put up some Christmas trappings.  I decided not to find a place for everything, so I asked Corey and the kids what they really wanted to have up.  Asa mentioned the "three men with beards star" that Greta gave me years and years ago.  He wanted to make sure it had a place.  There was also some major interest about the Advent blocks so the kids and I settled on placing them on top of the piano.  Eleanor mentioned the nativity set and we decided to arrange baby Jesus and his entourage on the book shelf in the dining room.  

Last but not least we settled on a place for the stockings.  They are actually quite special.  I started making them about 14 years ago.  I made the first three for Corey, Esther, and I.  I made up a pattern, chose and cut out different colors of felt and ribbons, and sewed each stocking together.  Then I decided on a theme for each one except Corey's.  He chose the Star of Bethlehem.  I have enjoyed coming up with a new stocking for each new member of our family.  When I was making Asa's stocking I new it would be the last, but it also meant that we as a family were entering a new stage and that was exciting.                    

Hospitality

This is an excellent time of year to consider hospitality.  In fact, I was inspired to write this post because of  this quote by Henri Nouwen which I read in Jon Zens' book, Jesus is Family His Life Together:

Hospitality is "primarily the creation of a free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend instead of an enemy.  Hospitality is not to change people, but to offer them space where change can take place...we can offer a space where people are encouraged to disarm themselves, to lay aside their occupations and preoccupations...Just as we cannot force a plant to grow, but can take the weeds and  stones which prevent its development, so we cannot force anyone to such a personal and intimate change of heart, but we can offer the space where such a change can take place."

I just love love the idea of creating a space where people can "disarm" and "lay aside their occupations and preoccupations".  The Incarnation of Christ is the most wonderful miracle.  God the Son was changed into a man so that we sinners can be changed into the image of The Son, and we can in turn provide a haven where others might be changed as we are being changed ourselves.

Some people excel at inviting family, friends, and strangers into their homes to share the good things that they have been blessed with, and some of us really have to work at it.  Corey and I laugh as we recall a few awkward, clunky attempts at hospitality towards people that we did not really know.  If you are a Christian you are not "off the hook" because your house is small or you don't know how to cook.  The pursuit of hospitality is like anything worth striving for, it gets better with more and more practice.

In fact, hospitality is essential to the growth of God's people.  To be changed, to become more and more like Christ, isn't that what we Christians truly want for ourselves and others?  The Holy Spirit can use our meager endeavors at clearing weeds and stones to change people - family, friends, and even strangers.

Thanksgiving in the Desert

We made our first trip back to the valley to visit the grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins for Thanksgiving.  I was taken aback by the openness of the landscape.  The vast farm fields seem to go on and on.  This is the scenery that I have always lived in, but it seems as though six months in the forest has left its mark. In the past I would cringe as we would reenter the desert after a trip to the forest. I would feel depressed by the dull, sage-brush dotted landscape and pine after something greener and cooler.

On this trip I "visited" the high desert.  I appreciated its openness and found the dry rocky mesas and cliffs captivating.  The fields looked like a giant quilt of various patches of green and brown all sewn together and laid across a bumpy surface.  The mountains appeared to be covered in a blanket of taupe colored velvet.  I think that the cool temperatures, low creeping clouds, and scattered rain storms all added to the awe and wonder of the desert.

Owyhee Mountains

After we ate two turkey dinners complete with smoked turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, salad, pumpkin pie and whipped cream, saw how much the cousins had grown, and caught up on current family activities we drove home.  As Corey maneuvered our Suburban through barren mountains and rain storms I admired the beauty of the desert but looked forward to the fresh, tree-filled air.  My thoughts wandered to the forest before I began to see trees. 

 sidewalk to our front door

 I do not miss the desert, but my memories of holidays past filled with family traditions and celebrations will be a scaffold that I stand on as we seven Ankenys make a new life in the woods.

Let It Snow - Forest Jaunts and Toilet Paper Rolls

The inevitable finally happened.  Several weeks ago snowflakes started falling.  In fact, Lillia and Isaac rode home on their bicycles from the library during the beginning of the storm.  They were all wet, but exhilarated from the chilly air and excitement of riding their bikes up our hill in the snow with fresh new books to pour over.

A view from our deck

The morning after our first snow storm I had an unexpected adventure in the woods.  I often like to let Willa and Clive out together and they seem to have fun.  Willa runs, Clive chases and I try to keep up. On this particular day Willa decided to add a new challenge to our morning jaunt when she jumped over the bent part of our fence which leads to our neighbor's forested five acres.  That part was not new, in fact Willa is infatuated with exploring our neighbors' property and has not been able to restrain herself despite Corey's and my warnings and disciplinary actions.  Our neighbors have kindly hinted that they do not want Willa in their forest.

The new part was that on that day Clive decided to follow her through the little hole in the bottom of the fence.  Of coarse I had to follow so I jumped the fence and awkwardly trudged through snow, trying to avoid scraping my face on branches and keep from twisting my ankles on rocks and logs.  Thankfully I was fully dressed with real shoes on.  Clive finally stopped right in my neighbor's backyard and "laid some cable"- as Corey likes to put it.  I did happen to have a plastic baggie in my coat pocket especially for the purpose of picking up doggie doo so I quickly implemented this handy waste remover, hoping that my neighbors were not watching from their back windows while they ate their breakfast... eek!  Then joy of all joy Willa came running out of nowhere and we three: naughty dog, the little twerp, and crazy lady made our way back to our side of the fence.  Willa stealthily bounded over logs and boulders as I carried a squirming puppy, clumsily grazing every branch possible while having to stop and find my beanie.  Whew, what an adventure to wake up to!

As you can see the relationship between Clive and Willa has improved.  They both enjoy laying in front of the wood stove together.  In fact, they often lay or curl up in the exact same way.  Willa no longer stays hidden in Corey's and my bedroom.  She has decided to put up with Puppy Clive and is actually quite patient.  He barks and growls at her and tries to initiate wrestling matches. Willa just takes it and endures the little spark plug.

I also have some very exciting news to share.  Just take a look at this beauty!

We do have all the bathroom walls textured and painted and the toilet paper holder is installed.  Corey has had some problems with installing the new light fixture because of the abnormal wiring, but after a consultation with his father during our Thanksgiving visit he will hopefully get that figured out this week.  As Corey likes to repeat, "Feather by feather the goose is plucked," so it goes with the bathroom remodel.  Someday I will have a sink to go with the t.p. holder.

Introducing Clive and Clara

Greetings family and friends!  We have been plugging away at home school lessons, chopping down trees, stacking wood, and upgrading our grey water basin.  We have been enjoying crisp sunny days amid rainy storms.  The forest looks so lush and green.  We can see a light frosting of snow on the mountain peaks that are partially covered with mists.  It is quite scenic.

Our first autumn at Haefen is going well, and among several projects we have added a couple of new animals to our family.  We of course still have Willa, our Irish Terrier who seems to like her new forest home.  She has plenty of room to run and roam.  Unfortunately our two acres aren't enough and she has been exploring our neighbor's property as well.  We have placed fence-fixing to the top of our to-do list.

Willa posing for Esther and Lillia on the wood pile

Ella and Clara

Before we left Nampa, Eleanor made it clear to us that she really wanted her own hamster.  Esther and Lillia have both had hamsters who have lived out their short but tender lives.  Caring for them were both great learning experiences for the girls.  We promised Ella that when we found a new home she could have her own hamster. 

So several weeks ago, after Eleanor had read a couple of hamster books, we drove to a pet store in Spokane to find a hamster.  They only had one "Robo" hamster left.  Roborovski hamsters are from Russia and they are the tiniest hamsters, about the size of a golf ball, and the last one was a female so we snatched her up, bought some hamster gear, and took her home.

Eleanor decided to name her Clara after a character in the book Dutch Color by Douglas Jones.  Eleanor thinks that her hamster is kind of reckless just like the character in the book.  Clara is pretty crazy, always very busy, and hard to hold.  We had a fun time trying to take this picture.  Eleanor was so worried that she would drop Clara.  So far, Eleanor is a careful caretaker and she really cherishes her first pet.

Clara was a planned pet but the newest member of our family was unexpected, at least to some of us.  Last Friday, Corey came home and asked me to come outside because he wanted to show me something.  I thought that maybe he had found some amazing thrift store treasure that he is known for finding.  He had all the children and I come out to the Suburban and right before he opened the passenger door I asked, "Did you get a dog?".  I thought that maybe he found a stray dog on his route somewhere - you never know what Corey might bring home.

meet Clive

I was on the right path, but strangely this dog was a small puppy with a blue collar with an attached metal tag that read "Clive" and Corey's and my cell phone numbers were engraved on it.  Hmmm... this seemed premeditated.  This dog was probably not found on the street.

Sure enough, Corey "found" Clive online and flew him here from Missouri, which is the same state that Willa came from.  Clive is also an Irish Terrier.  Corey picked Clive up from the airport after work and brought him home as a big surprise!

As is the custom we named him after one of our favorite authors.  Willa is named after Willa Cather and Clive is named after Clive Staples Lewis.  When we found out that C.S. Lewis grew up with an Irish Terrier it just seemed natural that we should name ours after him.

Of coarse, all the kids adore Clive and Corey is so happy to have the long-awaited partner for Willa.  We hope to breed Clive with Willa when he is old enough.  Right now Willa is not "too into him".  She usually stays upstairs to avoid the puppy terror, but he has figured out how to climb the stairs, so Willa has retreated to Corey's and my bedroom.  Willa has seceded the rest of the house to Clive, but she refuses to give up her master bedroom retreat.  Clive receives a strong growl when he comes too close to Willa's hideout.

Hopefully Willa will come around to the program and embrace her husband-to-be.  It has been six days since Clive arrived and Willa has shown some progress.  She will come downstairs when Clive is asleep!

Apples, Plums & Pears Oh My!

Last week was positively beautiful here in the woods.  Not too cold and not too hot with a cool breeze blowing through the changing leaves.  The bright, glorious sunshine filled the sky.  We completed week three of homeschool lessons and curriculum, projects, and instruction are all falling into place.  So I had absolutely no valid excuse for not doing something with all the fruit that keeps falling from my old, wild trees.

We have several varieties of plum and apple trees and one pear tree.  Although the pear tree is dry and sparse, the kids and I did pick a gallon bucket full of pears.  We laid them out to ripen and will dehydrate them after they soften.  Christi, Corey's sister told me about the yumminess of dried pears, and now we like them too.

just a sampling of the fruit from our trees

Esther and Lillia picked all the prune plums off the tree.  They are dark purple, oblong plums referred to as prunes as I am told.  They are sweet and have a mushy texture.  The girls halved and pitted them, and put them in the dehydrator.  They really do make tasty prunes - yum!  Esther cut up the extra prunes that did not fit in the dehydrator and I made plum sauce with them.

dehydrated prunes and apples

My Mom has been making plum sauce for years and raving about it.  I finally broke out the Ball Blue Book and found the recipe for the sauce.  I happened to have all the ingredients on hand except for mustard seeds.  So I chopped and mixed what I did have and decided to run to the store when Corey came home.  It is an Asian type sauce with plums, fresh ginger, raw garlic, chopped onion, sugar, apple cider vinegar, jalapeno pepper, and mustard seeds.  You simmer the sauce and pour it into jars.  I mentioned canning the sauce and Esther and Lillia said, "Too bad Grandma Chismar isn't here, she loves that kind of thing!".

My Mother does enjoy the benefits of canning and is very enthusiastic about helping other women can.  In fact she is probably canning right now as I write this.  She has helped many interested but scared women can their little hearts out.  She and my Grandma will show up at your door and before you know it, you will have glass mason jars, metal caps, and lids submerged in hot water with a steaming pot of water boiling on the stove top.  Jars filled with various concoctions of fruit and veggies making popping noises will adorn your kitchen counter top.

I can imagine a show like, "Call the Nanny" that is called, "Call the Canner,".  A young woman is overwhelmed with all the craziness of chopping, boiling, and sanitizing so she makes a phone call and the next clip shows my Mother and Grandmother knocking on her door with their suitcases full of canning tools.  Seriously, they are pro's and make the whole process much more sane and enjoyable!  I actually feel a few tears welling up in my eye-sockets right now just thinking about our memorable canning adventures.

plum sauce with pork and sauteed cabbage

The sauce did turn out lovely, but I decided not to process it in a hot water bath since it was time to make dinner.  I just put the jars in the freezer the next day after they cooled.  We actually used the sauce to make Asian pork wraps for lunch.  I think that some chopped scallions and cilantro would make perfect additions. I think that this sauce with be so handy to have on hand.  My Mom likes to cook it with meat for flavoring.

As I was checking out the plum sauce recipe I saw an orange-plum jam recipe that looked promising.   It called for orange liqueur and that sounded exciting - liquor and jam, Nice!  I searched for more plums and found three different varieties hanging from the trees in my yard.

As usual I didn't follow the jam recipe in the book.  The recipe called for 4 pounds of plums and 5 1/2 cups of sugar!  Yikes!  Why do jam and jelly recipes call for so much sugar?  I only added two cups of sugar and used Pomona's Pectin.  I did not have time to simmer the jam to thicken it so I tried this low sugar pectin.  You can use other sweeteners with this pectin and it has a calcium packet that you mix with water.

I did the gel test with a cold spoon and then added the orange liqueur.  Oh my goodness, this jam is so tasty.  Before I added the Grand Marnier the jam was a bit too sweet, but afterward...  perfection!  The jam has a tangy, slightly sweet taste, kind of like a sweet red wine with a hint of orange. We have already emptied this pint size jar shown in the picture.  And no, I did not can the jam either.  These jars went into the freezer too.  I hope to make better use of my plums next year and do some serious dehydrating and canning.  I know that we will need jars and jars of orange-plum jam.

I thrice toasted this piece of gluten-free bread, slathered it in butter, and smeared on the jam.

As for the apples, along with dehydrating thin slices to make "apple chips", we also made apple sauce, a gluten free apple crisp cake, and grain free apple turn-overs.  I really want to make an apple pie.  It seems so wrong to have oodles of apples falling from my trees and not make an apple pie.  The problem is that I love pie and I am not disciplined enough to make the flaky, cinnamon/sugar sprinkled, apple-filled pastry without consuming at least one piece!  My mouth will be so happy to savor that buttery goodness, but my stomach and intestines will be angry and create problems that last longer than the time it takes my mouth to chew and swallow.  However, I have found a gluten free pastry crust recipe that I want to try, so apple pie is on the menu for this week.

Rainy days and Chandeliers

The weather changes fast up here in the North.  Last week we were inhaling smoky air which only lasted a few days before the rain came, and we have been enjoying scattered showers ever since. Along with the rain came fresh, crisp air - autumn is here.  In the valley it seemed like September stayed warm and October was the transition month.  We went from wearing sandals, shorts, and summer skirts to wool socks, pants, and flannel shirts.

A fully functioning bath and shower

 Thankfully, Corey finished up our bathtub/shower and installed the toilet before all of the rain.  It would have been interesting to take a shower in the rain, but quite chilly in this weather.

A huge milestone was crossed this weekend.  I had told Corey that Haefen would not really be my home until I could take a bath in the bathtub.

 A toilet that flushes

You see, every Sunday I take a long soak in Epsom salt water along with about 15 drops of lavender essential oil and I cleanse, exfoliate, and moisturize with my own specially-formulated cocoa butter mask.  I have not been able to keep this routine for about nine weeks until this last Lordsday, which truly made the day a "day of rest" for me. I am very grateful for Corey's hard work and Bruce's help a couple of weekend's ago.

Now some texture, a sink, some paint, and wood trim is all we need to complete our bathroom.  I do not plan on posting more photos of the bathroom until it is finished.

As you may know, we have been eating outside all summer on our deck, which has been great!  We did not want to move our dining room table into the dining room until all the painting was done.  Even though it is a small room it took me weeks to finish the job.  We had to take down the chandelier so that I could paint the ceiling and rather than spend $200 on a new one that I liked, we decided to upgrade the old one which also had to be swapped out with the largest chandelier in the living room.  As usual, lots of details had to be worked out to simply put a table in the dining room!

After everything in the dining room was painted, the kids and I manoeuvred the hulking, solid wood table we bought off of Craigslist (from a very nice lady) into the house.  We brought in all six chairs that came with it from the garage and looked at the small space that we call the "dining room".  It was kind of hard to give up our huge hallway into the kitche, but eating indoors in a small dining room seemed better than freezing through dinner every night in the spacious outdoors.

Dinner by flame

The chandelier was still missing when this picture was taken.  We had been eating by kerosene lamp which is cozy and totally fits in with our house.  It felt rather primitive and rustic, like Little House on the Prairie.  The first time that we lit the lamp was when Greta and Bruce were still here and we continued using it until last night when Corey installed our new and improved chandelier.

three-light chandelier in the living room

I forgot to take pictures before we took our chandelier down, but it looked very similar to the two wagon wheel chandeliers in the living room.  The living room had one five-light chandelier and one three-light chandelier which is pictured here.  There was another three-light chandelier in the dining room.  We decided to put the five-light chandelier in the dining room and the three-light chandelier with its matching partner in the living room.
As you can see, this beauty has bright brass hardware with kerosene lamp glass sconces.  The base looks like a wagon wheel.  When I was looking for glass sconces on Amazon a lady described having these exact chandeliers and said that they had been in her house for thirty years which confirmed my suspicion that these fixtures were straight from the 1980's.
I am not a fan of the Eighties and I tend to abruptly turn away from anything that even remotely resembles that tacky and ostentatious decade.  However, the wagon wheel held my attention and beckoned to my creative sensibilities.

not so 1980's chandelier 

So, I finally decided (after several people told me that I should) to paint the hardware and find new sconces.  This seemed like a much cheaper option than buying a new light fixture and salvaging the wagon wheel seemed worth it.

I spray painted all the hardware matte black and found alabaster white glass sconces at Lowes.  Corey helped me do some touch up work and he reattached all the hardware, then he hung this chandelier in the dining room so now we have electric lighting.

We are so happy with the results.  Not only do we have plenty of light in the dining room, but we also get to enjoy our truly unique rustic/chic light fixture that we transformed.  Good-bye 1980's, you can't have my chandelier back.

underside of the wagon wheel

the dining room is complete!

Phase One - Bye Bye Wood Paneling

I wish that I could boast that clean, fresh mountain air is filling my lungs, but sadly we here up north are inhaling a smoky haze instead.  It is forest fire season and I do live in the forest so there you go - smoky air.  On the worst days I keep the windows closed during the day and do my best at not letting the gloom sink into my bones.

This is a view from my balcony

On the worst, smokiest day I drove to Westwood Nursery and bought some plants to put into a couple of pots that sit close to the RV pad.  It is a cute little garden center that cheers my heart here in town.  I spent the day planting my pots and building a little rock border around them in the smoky air in hope of brighter days ahead.  I thought that the mums, violas, and cabbages would also make a nice welcome for Corey's parents when they arrived with their camper.

One of the RV pad flower pots that Asa and Eleanor have commandeered for their toys to live in.

 The good news is that Bruce and Greta did arrive with their camper, but unfortunately they were not able to be the first to use our RV pad.  Our gate wasn't big enough and the uneven entrance coupled with some crazy tree branches rendered the smooth cement, flower-pot laden slab unreachable. Bruce considered the obstacles and decided to park his camper in front of our garage doors which worked great.  He and Greta still had access to electricity and they were relatively close to our front door.  Hooray! The kids could still enjoy eating sugary cereal in the mornings while visiting with Grandpa and Grandma in their camper.  We had a fun and productive week together.

The bathroom is still a work in progress.  The tile is installed and grouted and all the dry-wall is taped and mudded.  Bruce and Corey worked together to install the bathtub drain and put all the hardware in the shower.  Installing the drain looked very challenging, but finding faucet knobs that I liked and fit on our extra long knob stems was an on-going project.  Bruce and I frequented Ace Hardware several times while he was here and we became familiar faces in that store.  The last time that I purchased a faucet knob the cashier clerk asked me, "What are you doing now?".  Eventually Corey went to Lowes and bought all the faucet knobs that looked promising and finally we found a match.

So shiny and white

 We are still using the composting toilet and outdoor shower.  I don't mind using the "dry toilet" so much now.  I just read a great book by Gene Logsdon called Holy Shit and it really opened up my mind to considering alternative means of waste removal.  Using clean, potable water to flush away all our poop and pee is convenient, but requires a lot of infrastructure which is expensive and complicated.  Dry toilets are more demanding for the individual but much simpler to maintain - plumbers are not necessary.  You are more in control, less dependent on specialists and government agencies.

What a beauty!  It has literally saved our  you- know- whats.

The dining room is finally painted and I am pleased to announce that 95% of all the wood paneling has been covered with paint or removed!  The utility room which houses our dry toilet, washer and dryer, and food pantry is still completely paneled, but it is not on the Phase One list - whew.  I think that we will eventually take down the paneling and dry-wall this room.  I will send out pictures of the dining room once we rehang the chandelier.

Isaac's face is mostly healed and other than a chipped tooth he has no permanent damage - praise God!
 We joined a home school co-op and our classes started this week which helped motivate me to start our daily lessons at home.  We are reorganizing ourselves to meet this new challenge.  Every year is different and adjustments must be made.

Phase One - Bathroom Remodel Update and an Airborne Accident

I am pleased to announce that the bathroom remodel is progressing and hopefully we will soon have a brand new, plumbed. indoor toilet and a freshly tiled shower with a new bathtub.  Yeah!  Corey did a marvelous job of getting the bathroom ready for the tiler.  The bathtub actually sits about 3-4 inches below the sub floor, so he had to do some creative thinking to get everything matched up for the tile to be laid on a firm, smooth floor.

subway tile in the shower

black and white octagons on the floor

We are about five days in on using a composting toilet.  Corey installed it in the utility room.  We thought about renting a port-a-potty unit, but they only rent by the month and we thought that having an extra, back-up, emergency toilet might come in handy anyway.  It is definitely an interesting experience.  I can't say that it is my preferred method of eliminating waste, but it is better than having to find a safe place in the woods in the deep dark of night.

The outdoor shower is a big hit!  Some of us actually prefer outdoor showering to indoor showering.  It took a few days to figure out how to get the water temperature just right.  At first the bather needed to have a helper standing by to adjust the water faucet knobs on the utility sink.  The helper had to stay close to an open window and listen carefully to orders shouted out by the vulnerable showerer, "Too hot, turn up the cold!" or "It's freezing, turn down the cold!"

Five satisfied showerers

Part of the initial problem was that once the helper started turning she would usually forget which way was "on" and which way was "off".  As you can imagine the poor bather was subject to some pretty extreme temperature changes!  We also had to wait for the temperature to change after each adjustment because the hose is about 75 feet long. But all that was last week, now that we are pros most of us no longer need a helper.  Corey is the brave one, he usually takes his shower at night.  At first he would make Willa (our dog) go outside with him, but now he is comfortable going solo with just his battery-operated lantern.  He loves showering under the bright stars every night.  We like this new experience so much that we would like to build a permanent outdoor shower that we can use during the summer months.

You may have noticed Issac's huge face scab in the above picture.  Last night when I was grilling pork chops he and Asa made a bike ramp at the bottom our hill.  Asa volunteered to be the first contestant in the "Let's see who can break his neck first" game, but fortunately Isaac showed enough wisdom to hold his little brother back and give his own body as the first sacrifice.

This picture was taken the day after the incident at the scene of the accident.

Lillia figured that something other than the boys' wildest dreams would come true and stayed on the scene to provide first aide.

This is how far  Isaac landed from the ramp - about 12 feet

Lillia, our eye-witness reported that Isaac flew over his handle bars and apparently skidded across the grass and dirt by the looks of his face.

Another day of adventure at Haefen.

Thankfully Isaac is not badly hurt.  He feels stiff and sore today.  His eye is swollen and he did chip a tooth, but nothing else is broken.  Isaac did say that he probably will not be riding his bike down the hill for a while.

Phase One - Bathroom Remodel (Fantastic Mr. Fox meets the Brady Bunch)

We have been living in the Panhandle for almost three months, and half of that time has been spent making Haefen our home.  The living room, dining room, and master bedroom are painted (they just need some trim work done), and the wallpaper in the kitchen is slowly being scraped, torn, and chiseled off.  But, the biggest project yet is underway....

I am sure that you have guessed it, yep, the bathroom.  Hmmm maybe the title gave it away?

This a shot from the door into the bathroom.  I tore out the carpet the second week that we moved in.  There were two layers of carpet on the floor.  I guess one was the padding?

Here is the bath/shower and a glimpse of the vanity

This bathroom makes me think of the Wes Anderson film, Fantastic Mr. Fox.  It has a muted kind of 1970's look to it: creamy wallpaper with gold flowers, gold and cream faux marble wall board in the shower, wood trim in all the corners, and of coarse wood paneling!

These are super deep, built in shelves right above the toilet. They are completely off-centered.

Remember this is our one and only bathroom.  It is shaped like a square, a small square!  We had plans to make another half bath behind this bathroom, on the other side of the wall, behind the toilet.  That is where are utility room is and there actually is room for a toilet and a vanity.  We could probably fit a shower stall in there too, but that seemed too expensive for our budget.  After having two plumbers out and some root cellar investigations by Corey we decided against creating another conventional bathroom.  It seemed too risky to drill a hole through our rock and mortar foundation to connect a second toilet to the sewer line.

As I mentioned before, this is our only bathroom so we want to make it the cleanest, most functional and beautiful bathroom that we can afford.  We found a tiler (?), who was available to help us renovate our humble lavatory and he was scheduled to embark on this momentous project this week, but we have encountered some unexpected surprises and therefore delays.

We decided to keep the old bathtub and tile the walls and ceiling around it along with the floor.  We also wanted to put up dry wall and have at least one room in the house with no wood paneling.  Isaac and Lillia helped start the demo work by pulling down wallpaper, removing trim, hooks and other odds and ends.  Thankfully Corey prayed and asked the LORD for guidance before he started his part of the demolition.  I also prayed quietly in the living room.  He decided to start by changing the hardware on the bathtub.  It was bent and tarnished and I could smell a musty, earthy smell coming from the auxiliary drain hole which made my anxiety level rise higher than normal.

Corey discovered that the drain pipe was rusted and a small hole emitted some water underneath the bathtub.  Since there was no way to get to the pipe without pulling out the tub, that is what we decided to do.  When Corey pulled the wall board away from the wall he discovered this abnormality:

A wall of weeds

This vine of weeds was found behind the shower wall board, and it is what I was smelling!  It grew from underneath the tub all the way up the wall.

Our gutted shower stall

I don't have a picture to prove it (because I was shopping for a new bathtub), but there were  four wheel barrow loads of wood chips and sand underneath the bathtub.  Corey removed all of that and found a cement slab underneath.  When he removed the wall board that was installed above the bathtub he found another weird surprise.  Can you guess what?  You will never guess this one - two dead kittens surrounded by mouse bones (I also do not have a picture of that!).  Not sure how the cats ended up there but I am glad that the mice, the cats, and the weeds are gone!

After gutting the shower stall, Corey started taking down the wood paneling and found layers of wall paper.

This looks like the original wall paper.  It is a lacy pattern

shiplap!

Of all the wallpaper this is my favorite

 Don't you just love the butterflies and orange scalloped border?  They make me think of the Brady Bunch.  They are so cheerful and uplifting, especially after finding weeds and dead animals in my walls.

As of right now the toilet is still installed and working and so is the bathroom sink.  You may have already put two and two together and wondered how we are bathing.  We did foresee this possible problem and we were ready with a plan....

An outdoor shower, of coarse!

 We clothes-pinned old sheets and a table cloth (used for our painting drop cloths) along with a real shower curtain to our clothes line.  We are using a garden nozzle for the shower head that is hooked up to a hose which is attached to the utility sink in the utility room.  Our shower floor is made up of bricks that we found laying around.  Voila, an outdoor shower.

Three out of four showerers were satisfied with their showering experience.  The one dissatisfied bather complained of not enough hot water.  He did take his shower after his little brother and after the dishes had been washed.  Three of us have not experienced this new natural bathing experience, but will soon need to, preferably when the sun is shining.