diesel, alternative fuels: 77 mercedes benz

I like to travel, which means that when I drive I am using gasoline . . .unless I find an alternative. Many people know that the gasoline system in America is problematic. The internal combustion engine is inefficient, but it is what is highly available. I could go into rotary engines, electric trolly systems, and documentaries like Who Killed the Electric Car? but instead I will just say that I am starting my explorations with more sustainable/cheaper/overall smarter fuel sources by looking at diesels.

The story of Rudolf Diesel is fascinating, how he originally constructed the engine to run on peanut oil, experiments with engine efficiency, and his strange death. The two options for car transportation I had been looking at were EV (electric vehicle) conversion with the truck, and doing biodiesel or veggie with a car/van/bus. EV's are short range, while it seems that road-tripping on veggie oil is not uncommon (depending on your definition of common).

Back in April I ran across two possibilities: an old school bus and a 1977 Mercedes Benz Diesel. While the school bus was tempting for road-tripping and camping the car seemed to fit more readily into my every day at mooncatlife. I bought the car though it had a vacuum problem for $1500.

The vacuum problem meant that in order to shut off this car I had to pop the hood and press a tab that said "stop" that came with these older models for manual engine shut-off. After trying to do research,  and having a friend help me take a look at it I brought it in to a local diesel mechanic.

Steve Pelham in Clinton told me to stop through early on a Monday when he was less busy and he would check it out. I watched him clamp and plug vacuum lines to find out if there was a leak. A leak in the vacuum lines is a much better diagnosis than a vacuum pump that is going bad. A bad vacuum pump, it seems, could have caused damage and caused brake problems. . . .to sum things up Steve was helpful, quick, and friendly. I stopped back in to make sure the car was alright for longer trips later. I was also afraid that there was something wrong with the transmission. The car is slow to shift and it sounded like the rpms were going too high and it would shift in after I let off the gas . . . in a similar way to a manual transmission . . .anyway, Steve said it shifts like an old diesel and is working fine. Whew. I also found a forum online that made the comment that these old diesels sound like they are falling apart all of the time, but will run forever.  And of course that is what everyone is saying, "That thing will run forever".

I MacGuyver'ed a way to choke a vacuum hose from the inside of the car to shut the engine off. . .though some say I can plug the hose that runs to the locks and everything will work fine (minus locks) . . .but plugging it doesn't seem to work that way. I could invest somewhere around $500 to have a mechanic tear into it, check the lines and diaphragms in the doors, but that is not a priority to me right now because it is functional. The leak is not harming anything.

This has been my journey with making sure my cheap diesel is running well enough to consider biodiesel or Veggie conversion. It seems this car is ideal for alternative fuels (the reason I snatched it up in April though I didn't really do very much with it until now). It has been a really fun process. I will not claim to be a gearhead, but have always been a gearhead wannabe and I am enjoying what I am learning along the way. The extent of my previous experience pretty much extends to checking fluids, changing oil/filters, and changing disk brakes.  I love this retro car and am slowly learning the best way to apply steady, consistent pressure on the gas pedal for optimal transmission transitions.

bike trip to mississippi palisades

   
  Our bike trip started out as a trip to Thomson to see a cheese-making demonstration at the newly opening Heirloom Cafe. Mark and Catherine told me that the presenter would be using their raw milk, and I was specially interested because I have been wanting to do just that. Then I suggested that we bike there, then one of us suggested that we just continue on to the Palisades and camp there.  So Saturday morning Jerome and I took off on his Next bike with a trailer for sleeping bags etc. and the battered Schwinn that we found laid out for trash that Bill fixed up.

We arrived a little late and missed the cheese-making, but I appreciated the chance to visit Thomson Heirloom Solutions where they sell Heirloom seeds and solar harvesting equipment.  I listened to Nick (seed connoisseur) and Jerome talk about gardening, farming, as well as chipping in some questions here and there. Next we stopped through to visit a bike shop that we had passed, Arnold's Bikes and Embroidery. The owner, I can't remember his name right now, but I know the last name is Arnold, let us play on his recumbent bikes and even ride his own bike. It was so fun! I am in love with recumbent bikes now. He also put some grease on the bearings of the rear wheel of the Schwinn for us so that it would stop that weird grinding noise it was making intermittently.  He came out with some copper wool and said that Schwinns are known for their chrome, scrubbing the rust spots right off. Then he sent the copper wool with us and told us to shine it up while we were camping.  

[dragonfly coming out of nymph stage at the river]

We continued on the Great River Bike Trail to the Palisades, altogether around 25 miles on a hot day and then jumped into the Mississippi where we hollered and waved to people at the Palisades lookout, snacked, rested our sore butts, swam, and made hair extensions out of sea weed (is it called that in the Mississippi?). I had gotten hungry/hot grumpy but the water made me feel better. Our intention had been to camp at the Palisades but the mosquitos were horrible at night (and we were sleeping in a hammock and sleeping bag, no tent) so we left our campsite in the middle of the night to head back and find somewhere along the way to lay out our bags where there might be a breeze or less mosquitos.

[view from where I woke up]

The ride in the dark was amazing! To the left was the park with fireflies scattered throughout the trees, to the right was the river and fog. After a bit a train rode next to us, offering one of those timeless feelings. It was one of those magical times where I was reminded of what true beauty there can be in the world.  We found a stopping place off of the side of the road a couple of hours in, and hiding our bikes in the trees slept very comfortably until sunrise when we took off for home.  We ate some wild blackberries and mulberries along the trail and snapped pictures of other plants we will look up later.

Upon arriving home we were told that Zac, Tuara, and Sabastein had gathered 18 eggs the day before, so of course we devoured some and fell asleep. My body feels fantastic after that trip now that the saddle-sore feeling has faded. We have decided that next time we won't bring the trailer and we will bring the tent--strapped to a bike.  It was definitely a beautiful trail that I would love to bike again sometime.

There's nothing like nature to help me fall back in love with my life when I'm feeling burnt.

chicken rescue

I had been thinking. It might be time for more chickens. Previously we only had 3, so there was an inconsistent and small amount of eggs. I decided to check craigslist, of course, where else would you go for chickens?  Sure enough we found 500 free organic chickens nearby. When a company or family produces commercially they get rid of the chickens as they get older and production slows. We picked up last year's chickens, egg production had dropped to 50% and it was no longer worth it for the farmer to keep supporting these chickens.

The sad thing is that, what do you do with them? These "hy-line" layers have a small amount of meat on them. We were told about 3lbs, which is not enough pay back to process them. Mark and Katherine made the comment that it is still meat . . .if you process them yourself.  My thought is we get a largish number of chickens, and then before winter (when we can no longer support them all to move inside) we invite uber rough-it-man backwoodsman grandpa to show us how to clean a chicken.

Hmmm, to clean a chicken. I have never killed an animal. I was vegetarian for two years and decided morally, ethically, and spiritually that life was about balance and eating "happy meat" (as my friend Jess calls it --grass fed, antibiotic free, hormone free etc.) actually seemed the better choice. This was a big decision for me. In a way I wanted to actually hunt or kill the first animal that I ate after being a vegetarian so that I could fully appreciate the life I was taking, but I was busy and didn't get to go out bow-hunting with anyone at that time. . . anyway, chickens. I think that, though I would not be excited to kill and clean a chicken, it would be an interesting experience if I am going to be eating some meat. In a way I feel, what right do I have to eat meat if I can't appreciate the balance and appreciate this life as life, which is a beautiful thing.  No really, back to chickens. I'll get off of my meat soap box.

So we got chickens. I asked what would happen to the chickens that didn't get picked up . . .the option then was that they would have to be killed and composted. The farmer genuinely felt bad about this, which is why he posted them on craigslist. I really enjoyed this family, but as the farmer said, with producing eggs commercially sometimes you just have to make that choice.

I know that in this economy people have to make money, I am glad that someone is trying to use organic feed and that the chickens have the option to go outside. . .but is there a better option? Maybe if we all had our own chickens (those that can, which many backyards are allowed) and scaled down and the tough choices of commercial scale weren't as necessary.

If I could find a group of people in the area interested I would teach them how to build chicken tractors for their back yards, go pick up another truckload of free chickens, and watch local backyards become populated with chickens and children dive into oology.  Here is a great recording on how backyard chickens can fuel a food revolution, from Sustainable World Radio. With the Urban Chicken Movement having opened many doors I think we should take advantage of it and step into a more local, sustainable economy. . .beside that, if you have your own chickens you can eliminate the hormones and antibiotics which are creating their own cycle of problems on mass scales that they are being used and going into our bodies, and the earth, and the water . . .and . . .and . . .well, it is one place to start.

The good news is we have 27 new chickens that we are starting out getting used to our place. Soon we are going to see how free ranging will work with them, despite cats and critters. Animals are an integral part of a permaculture system, and it would be nice to have them walk through the garden and eat the cut-worms off of the tomatoes.

CSA June

 I snapped a few pictures this week before the CSA boxes went out. The veggies are turning out beautiful. Last week we got a comment that one of the CSA members didn't want to eat her lettuce because it was so pretty.  The only editing done to the pictures is cropping. We scaled down the number of shares this year, so it is a small number to assist in gaining experience without adding that overwhelmed we-are-trying-to-do-everything-sustainable-in-one-year feeling . . .

Radishes and beets. Zoe put a lot of hard work into weeding the lambs quarters out of the beets so that they could get their sunlight.

Basil, one of my favorites. The Basil is companion planted next to the tomatoes to help keep insects away.  The basil is picked before it flowers, because flowering can change the taste.




Chives

We have a few varieties of lettuce going.  I only snapped pictures of two.

Green onions

Flower bouquets are part of the CSA as well.  The sunflowers have really taken off this year. There were a lot of herbs this week. We included mint and spearmint too. Mint is very self-sufficient as a plant and is very happily spreading this year. We planned a mojito night last week to use up a bunch of the mint. I also enjoy adding mint leaves to ice-cube trays before freezing. Zoe made watermelon mint granita . . . m m m m mmmm

earthship TN, aquaponics, and occupy chicago

Phoenix and I recently got back from some travels and are digging back in on the land back here at mooncatlife. A friend that I met at the Earthship build in Guatemala, Marcus, went to the new Earthship Academy and is starting a simple Survival Model Earthship.  I wanted to see how he was going about it, help get it started, and be around other Earthshippers and Earthshipper wannabees.

At Marcus' build in Tennessee we got to help level, help with some of the layout, lay down plastic, and start pounding some tires. I picked up a number of little tips from Marcus and decided that the Earthship Academy seems like a good idea. I will be looking to see if I can make that happen some time in the future. The Academy is pretty new, previously there had been internships, but with the academy classes  more in-depth information is offered. Marcus recommended the Earthship Academy, he says that one will get out what one puts in, and there is a lot to learn.

On our drive back from Marcus' build I drove past a hydroponics store. I decided to stop through because Carlisle had told me that he thought the closest hydroponics store to our home location is Rockford, which I believe is a few hours drive. In the hydroponics store I asked a few questions and learned that supplemental nutrients are, as one might assume, mined. However to avoid supplemental nutrients one can include fish in the system (aquaponics) and the waste and bacteria that are formed feed plants. I am new to all of this and wanted a reference. The man at the store handed me a book that he said is so good that he re-reads it every year. The book is Aquaponic Gardening by Sylvia Bernstein. I love this book so far! It is easy and fun to read as well as very thorough.

After Tennessee I had planned to go to Chicago a bit to put out some flyers and promote the upcoming Touch For Health Kinesiology conference. In putting flyers around I learned that having a price on flyers can limit options as far as where you are allowed to place them. Phoenix and I made a visit to Reba Place Intentional Community, where we were staying when she was born, and had a chance to catch up and connect with a few people. I would like to teach TFH kinesiology to this community and we are going to set up a time to come back so that I can work on some people there.

 Our third night in Chicago we met up with a friend who is involved in the Occupy Chicago movement. I got to attend one of the meetings and see what is going on with the movement. I will not go into a lot on here right now but was told first-hand stories of violence toward protesters (one woman got pulled away by her hair and thrown in jail, others were targeted . . .  )
anyway, it seems that the call for change and empowerment that the Occupy movement is calling for is something that many people are feeling right now. There are many ways to express this and I identified with one person who wanted to take the movement into urban gardening. I am excited to watch where that goes.


 I searched for a Permaculture documentary to watch online while washing the dishes a couple of days ago. I had an odd assortment pop up by association and ran across a documentary called The 1 Percent, produced in 2006.  I was fascinated with the premise especially since my recent introduction to Occupy Chicago.  There are so many questions right now about the wealth gap and empowered people. I think that perhaps we are beginning to see that capitalism breeds certain extremes. I am not calling for a full on movement to some stereotypical failed communism but an openness toward cooperation, movement away from the fear mindset. Muhammad Yunus tried to salvage capitalism (because, he says, non-profits are limited in structure) and has some very interesting ideas that have produced amazing results.

people and frogs

I am very much in a place of appreciating the people who have come to be a part of the land here with us lately. I am reminded about how the native americans believed that no man/woman could own land, but as I watch people here I see that nature owns a place in all of our hearts.  I really needed the encouragement that I am receiving lately in all of these people that are passionate about veggies, dirt, and caring for the earth.

This past week we released the tadpoles/tiny frogs into a pond nearby. Zoe and Bill have come from Chicago to play here, dig in some dirt, engage with some plants, help with the gray water planter, watch the Venus transit, help put gutters on an outbuilding connected to used poly-tanks for water for the plants, finish the chicken enclosure, jam out around the campfire, oh, and so much more.  Zoe made vegan banana peanut-butter "ice-cream" that we ate as a break last night from our bottle and cement planter. I have recently learned that it takes way too long to try to harvest my own sand . . .there is a quarry in a local town that I bought some sand from and things are moving so quickly now!

We have had other interesting visitors as well lately including Carlisle who, along with a friend, got a hydroponics project going at his college nearby. He sketched this out for me and I have all sorts of plans running through my head now . . .

Billy has some experience with bikes and has been fixing up one that we found on the curb. It has also been interesting to hear about his explorations into some of the grasses that are around the property.

We are getting ready to take off to Tennessee tomorrow to help a friend of mine to build his survival model Earthship. Taura is driving with Phoenix and I. I met Taura at Independent Scholars in Moline when I talked about Earthships. She said that she was surprised that someone around here was interested in them and I am now trying to convince her that she and her boyfriend don't need to move to California to live in a co-op/alternative community and explore Earthships and permaculture . . .

 Beautiful thistle at mooncatlife with a red-winged black bird behind. I love the sound that red-winged black birds make. We live close to the river, as well as the fact that there is a lot of clay in the north-west corner of our property, causing water retention that these marsh birds like.

  Flowers, peppers, chives, mulch, and free river rock

We officially have the double-hammock up. Siesta and a good place for watching the sunset.

 Releasing the tadpoles with Bill and Zoe.

 If you look closely you can see a frog who has made this broken jar his home. We are reading The Borrowers to Phoenix right now. I can just see a tiny Arriety peeping into this frog's home.

 Ducklings and momma. This is at the nearby pond we dropped off the tadpoles at. Phoenix thought it was adorable to watch the ducklings speed across the water.

may pictures

I came back to . . .

tadpoles in the living room. Jerome and Phoenix found some outside in a puddle after a large rain, they figured the puddle would dry up so they got an aquarium off of craigslist and we are now raising tadpoles inside--very exciting. They like boiled lettuce.

 Phoenix by her tadpoles

ripe strawberries, Jerome did such a good job mulching around some of these, but they definitely need a  lot more work

 my favorite bib that Phoenix had when she was a baby said "give peas a chance"

 onions

garlic scapes

 lettuce in their beds

 the asparagus are up and we just planted them before I left, I planted those puppies pretty deep too

chives

 my climbing rose has flowers

 lots more radishes

a small amount of blueberries, but exciting to see it producing (the blueberry bush in the hoop-house seems to be thriving compared to the one outside, but both are doing well)

 a few red currants (we already ate some)

 some young raspberries (in the hoop-house)

flowers on the blackberry bush (in the hoop-house)

back from touch for health kinesiology training

I just got back to mooncatlife on Monday. I spent two weeks doing my instructor training in North Carolina with Arlene Green.  I learned so much that wasn't in my manuals while with Arlene, Larry (my new leprechaun brother), and all of the other TFH (Touch For Health) instructors. I got to camp out and hear the rain fall on my tent.

I am excited to share some amazing stories about people we helped during those weeks and now to teach others to take more control of their health. I am so passionate about this because I have seen TFH kinesiology take care of issues people have had for years in one session, and anyone can do this.

My passion is for sustainability and empowered individuals and I like to imagine a world where everyone feels able to take care of their needs. I have all of these plans running through my head about how I can begin teaching kinesiology to absolutely everyone. TFH gives people the ability to get feedback from their bodies about what is actually going on, and being their own expert, to make a correction.

I am working on a project website for a group of us instructors who all feel that sharing TFH kinesiology will make a difference in the world. We have two massage therapists, a mental health worker, two RNs and a championship powerlifter (more about these bio's to come on the website).

While at Arlene and Larry's I got to visit their Neighbors Lee and Larry (a different Larry) and talk about farming for sustainability. I was excited to find some ripe strawberries at home when I got back and we picked our first vegetables (peas) this morning for our CSA members. I have a new friend who is passionate about Eartships that would like to help me in our continual retrofitting.

This is just to catch up . . .more details to come.

independent scholar

I have to admit that since I have moved to this area it has been difficult for me to find a group of like minded people (though I know partially this is due to the fact that I often enjoy my hermit time at the farm). I recently started to more seriously attend the Independent Scholar evenings arranged by Narveen Aryaputri at the Moline Club/Quad City Institute in Illinois. I really couldn't help going out, the topics are just so interesting.

We talked about consciousness and the evolution of computers recently. The group recently invested in a projector to show the movie The Secret Life of Plants, which inspired me to buy the book. Anyone who works with plants or eats food should seriously consider reading that book.

This week--tonight--I am going to talk about the basic concepts of Earthships and how they have inspired what we are doing on our land, as well as plans for building in the future. Here is they eflyer that Narveen sent me.

April 26th. 2012

Independent Scholars' Evenings.  7.00 p.m.

EARTHSHIPS: Sustainable self-sufficient homes. 

By 

Krystal Hamilton Case.

Krystal Case will be giving an overview of Earthships, and their style of sustainability.

Ms. Case will talk about the basic concepts behind Earthships, her experiences building with them, and plans for the future.

At the end of her presentation, Ms. Case  will talk briefly about how she and her husband are in the process to retrofit their home to this style. 

About the topic:

Earthships are eco-friendly and sustainable homes that take care of the environment and people in a responsible manner.

 The basic six components of Earthships are:

1   Build with recycled materials

2   Use thermal and solar heating and cooling

3   Use solar and wind energy

4   Harness water from the sky (rainwater catchment and cisterns)

5   Contained sewage treatment

6   Food production

I pulled these six concepts out of one of the Eartship books (or was it the seminar dvid?).

Narveen has also very kindly agreed to display Maria's goods at the store downstairs next to the Phoenix art gallery. Maria is the woman that we built the Earthship in Guatemala for last November. Her Earthship is still under some progress and Maria still has some money to pay back so that another house can be built for another family. Maria and many of the women in Comalapa do amazing weaving, but do not have a large market near home. I have tried a bit to help get her stuff out in this area and am excited to help her pay off her house while people in this area can enjoy her purses, table runners, blankets, and more (a local cafe called Julie's in Albany IL has agreed to place her things as well, but more on this later).

I am looking forward to some good discussion tonight.

containers

On waste. In grocery stores we often buy food in containers. We intend to buy the food, the container is just seen as a sanitary disposable vehicle. I would like to rethink the word "disposable" . . .

Most containers are made from not terribly renewable resources--and by this I mean plastic. Plastic and styrofoam are both made from oil. Reading up on styrofoam I found numbers ranging from 900 to a million + years for it to break down. If you burn styrofoam it produces a toxic gas--so why are so many restaurants and stores still using it . . .values, lack of awareness, inertia . . .

First we try to not buy plastic containers. Then we try to save and reuse containers we do have. Otherwise they are recycled. Why buy tupperware when you just got a new container with your yogurt?

We try to bring our own containers and buy in bulk from health markets and coops. When I tare a new container I always have flashback to science labs. If you haven't done this before there is usually a scale in the bulk area or you can ask the cashier to help. I did not grow up in a family that bought in bulk so this is something that I picked up on within the past five years.

We try to bring our own containers to restaurants, in the case that we do not finish our food. Otherwise we try to put leftovers in napkins instead of the to-go containers. There have been a few cases I've been in a bind and didn't want to waste food so I took the styrofoam . . .in which case we try to reuse it for travel food. When we end up with too many containers that means it is time to start making yummy food to share with friends, sending the food in our excess containers! Of course growing what food you can and then shopping at a farmers' market eliminates many containers.

I thought that perhaps I would like to make a small card to leave restaurants who use styrofoam/non-renewable containers to recommend a change. Then I realized, hmm, I bet someone has already thought of this . . . so I searched it.
http://styrophobia.akamai-marketing.com/change-for-change/  This link is really great, but specific to the state of Hawaii.
This link talks a little more about the compostable alternatives. Maybe instead of trying to find uses for all of the corn we are mass producing by forming it into processed food in the supermarket, we can choose to focus on corn-based PLA biodegradable to-go containers.

I think it would be really fun to write a book about the life of a container. . . or how a container has come to symbolize life today . . .or . . .ahaha . . .hmmm . . .

food april 2012

One of these things are not like the other . . . (we found this tiny egg in one of our chicken's nests)

We have chickens laying and we are figuring out the best way to regulate temperature in the greenhouse.  So far the broccoli seems to be the most temperature sensitive plant in there. The lettuce beds outside have some sprouts and leaves. In front of the house the peas are thriving. We covered them a few nights within the past few weeks with frost advisory.

In the middle of the peas my cilantro re-seeded itself and is a much larger plant this year. I have already been enjoying cilantro in my rice and beans. Other herbs have popped back up outside, such as mint, spearmint, lavender and thyme.  We have been foraging greens for a number of weeks now including my favorites of wood sorrel and dandelion greens.  I tried frying up some wood sorrel today (we usually eat this raw) and it was like biting into a lemon! I think I will use it cooked as a citrus spice substitute in the future. Jerome found wild carrots last week and now we are finding them in random places around the land as well. We have enjoyed tossing our violets (I do not believe all violets are edible, but the ones we have are) and lilacs into salads.  We have been planting potatoes and have some asparagus to get into the ground now too, though that won't bear this year. Our garlic sprouts have been up for quite a while as well.

Today I happened across Spangler's Nursery near Morrison, IL. We have been meaning to check out Spangler's for a while but this is the first time I stopped in. It was very exciting! I got pulled in by the berry bushes. I asked about chemicals and was told that the only chemical used there is miracle grow (unless there are insect problems, but that is only necessary with the redbuds I was told). I came out of there with two different types of gooseberry bushes, a blackberry bush, a blueberry bush, a red currant bush, and a black currant bush. I opted for the hardy ones that were preferably sweeter than sour-er. Phoenix got a rose bush for the children's area. I will be headed back soon for some fruit trees. I am dreaming of fresh berries and pies . . . speaking of fresh berries. The strawberries have already flowered and I am keeping a close watch. I am also watching mulberries form on the trees, though it has been a while since I have checked the raspberry bushes.

On miracle grow: after looking around a bit online it seems to me so far (though I have more to look into it) that plants will not retain or reproduce any toxins from the chemicals in miracle grow. Run-off from miracle grow might be harmful for the ecosystem in larger amounts (see forum link). It is my conclusion at this point that I want some berries in the ground and am ok with buying some bushes that were started with miracle grow. Supplemental nutrition to plants in the future on our land will be via fish emulsion (which we can get locally as a by-product from Schafer Fishery).  We will be getting more bushes/trees from nurseries that are a bit further that sell native species raised organically as well.

Updates: I can't believe that I forgot to mention the radishes! Jerome planted radishes Fukuoka style (scattered seeds on top of the soil) and they have already come up and been delicious. He planted some traditionally and we have not seen anything of them yet.

On eggs. Katherine Gravert, our friend from a few miles away that sells raw milk, says that it is common with new hens and hens that haven't laid in a while to lay small eggs. To see if they have been laying you see if you can fit two fingers up next to her hips. The more space, the more likely she has been laying.

homeschool

I am currently homeschooling Phoenix. As someone who is obsessed with books and learning I think that it is primarily the parents' responsibility to help their child understand life is about learning. I have always taught Phoenix that when she doesn't understand something then she should learn about it. Because of this, she has a jump start on her academic studies.

I decided to homeschool her starting last November for a number of reasons. One of these reasons is that sometimes the behavior of other children can be very influential--especially at certain stages of development. Another reason is that I kept having to pull her out of school while we were traveling. And last of all, because I enjoy teaching her learning with her working with her and this is a good time in our lives to spend time together. I still have my skepticism about certain aspects of public school, but am not going to go into that right now. I do not feel it is my job to indoctrinate my daughter, so if she decides she wants to give public school a go then we will certainly try it and observe the result.

I think that if we want to move toward lifestyles that are more balanced, healthy, and sustainable it starts with each individual. If the young feel empowered about their place in the world and creativity is fostered then the whole world can change in one generation!

Phoenix' core curriculum is online at Time For Learning. I picked this because she enjoys working online, it is fun, and she can do things at her own pace. I noticed when looking around that Time For Learning can easily sync up with different states' requirements. She is self-motivated with this school (which offers an option of levels) and gets reward time after lessons by visiting PBS kids for games and learning videos. I get to go work on other things while Phoenix does her lesson time, unless it is something more challenging for her (like coins right now). By working online we are also saving on paper.

In life we make sure to write down things that she wants to learn about. She learns well from videos and often we will look for short videos or documentaries on concepts she is curious about (such as batteries). We take pictures of things in nature and look them up as well. Meditation has always been something that has helped Phoenix feel she is in control of herself and her feelings (Silva 3 finger method, relaxation by Steven Sadlier, and short mantra meditations from Thich Nhat Hanh).

I have made sure that Phoenix understands that her actions don't end with "out of sight out of mind". She understands that trash doesn't magically disappear, and god forbid I have to stop and go to the bathroom at a BP gas station . . . "No, Mom, not here. This is the place that spills oil and doesn't clean it up. Mom, they are killing baby animals!"

Other areas she is currently obsessed: anatomy (especially bones), horses, art (trash sculptures and painting), sensitive plants, learning how to strengthen her eyes . . .

We also try to read nighttime books that have been made into movies: The Magician's Nephew, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Mary Poppins, Alice in Wonderland, Hugo (this one by accident right before it came to theaters), and The Lorax, Horton Hears a Who, The Sneeches (anything Dr. Seuss).

Pictures above: Phoenix and I drew flowers and did math. Her cat "Flower" is pregnant and she does short math problems such as two plus three. She made me a long math problem to do.

bedroom

I have officially taken over what was the guest bedroom (this will now be a different room because the house has four bedrooms). I have been really enjoying how it has come together. I seem to have this odd knack for colors of things that I like "accidentally" matching perfectly. Through all of the work and transition this house is going through I find that beauty and harmony in a space can bring me a lot of peace.

The light in this room I found at the Habitat for Humanity Restore for $15. The blankets we'd already owned, but the pillows were found at a local thrift store (Salvation Army). The dresser was from the curbside furniture buffet for free. The ocean painting and bookshelf were both from local thrift stores as well; the chest in that picture was a gift from a friend. I like the chest in this room because it officially makes it feel like I am a pirate in here. The window still needs a little work. We pulled out some rotten wood where the berm had been draining improperly and I temporarily capped the bottom of the hole up with extra cement . . .but the curtain I sewed from scrap fabric Jerome's mom Mary brought to us. The top of the curtain encircles a rescued cardboard postal tube (the curtain does actually match the rest of the room, but the colors in the pictures turned out funky from lighting). Paints were from the "mis-mix" section of the hardware store . . .though I know that buying mis-mix paints is technically re-using, I am starting to consider natural based paints because I know that when I wash my brushes out all of that toxic stuff is going into the land.

Its amazing to think where we started on this place and how far we've come . . .the smells and ripping up the carpet in this room, getting the rotten wood out, sealing things up, scraping and washing and washing the floor, painting it . . . everything is not done yet, but I am content with where things are in this room for now. I find that when a lot of construction is going on one area of peace can save me.