I ran out of wheat berries this morning.  My husband has been hounding me to make bread so I am in the process of making 18 loaves ( I know, I'm a very all or nothing kind of gal).  We have been bread-less for the past couple of weeks at least if not longer.  So 6 loaves are in the freezer in dough form so I can just whip a loaf into the oven whenever I need to.  The other 12 are in a five gallon pail rising for two hours while I find a way to squeeze this very non-sqoozable bucket into an already too small fridge.  This is starting to sound like a Lucy and Ethel project.  Where oh where is my Gina?  It has already oozed all over the counter once.

Thank goodness I wiped it off good first since there are a myriad projects that occur there, usually involving insects, toads, or a science experiment involving a scalpel.  My kids are really gross, uh creative.  Yeah, creative!  Eww!

Anyway I set out on a journey to find wheat again.  I am still in search of the perfect loaf.  I like hard white wheat but can't find it locally. (If anyone knows where I can buy it in Wisconsin E-mail me!)
We have been purchasing hard red spring wheat from Schoch Farms.  It is delicious and nutty but alone seems to be a bit dense for my taste.  It is very high in protein and very reasonably priced so we usually stick with them.  I guess I quit searching for now but I did find some interesting information along the way: Wheat Council and Wiki.  The things they do to store-bought wheat are really insane.

Okay, I definitely have to quit rambling on cause Daniel (6) just asked for the kitchen sponge and told his sister he had to clean the dough off the couch so mom doesn't get mad.  I see where he got it!  Apparently 12 loaves don't fit in a 5 gallons pail.  Oops.

Maybe we could just go back to disecting something.

I can remember being little.  I remember pretending.  I remember forts and trees and roots that made up little rooms of the fairy houses.  Acorns were bowls, leaves were little mats and furniture was made from little twigs and yarn I took from my mom.  It was a magical land.  I couldn't wait to get out there and play. Along with the fairy homes in the nooks and cranny's of the trees I had pet toads that I trained to do tricks (or so I thought).  They lived in a variety of coffee cans and had bridges and ladders to climb.

This was all brought about by my daughter who wanted to make a fairy house out of wood so that her younger brothers wouldn't destroy it. We spent the morning going through scraps of wood until we found the perfect piece leftover from building our hearth.We measured and drew lines.  I cut it out with the circular saw and she cut out the door with the skill saw.  Shes gonna paint it brown but right now it's nestled into the crook of an old maple, just five feet from the national forest. She has a hollowed branch for a tunnel from the house to the "garden".  It's landscaped with moss and fern and gravel boulders.  She plans to sew little bean bags for beds and chairs.  I'm sure there will be fairy's living there in no time.  We might even have to build more when the word gets out.

It's not that often that I feel so in touch with her.  I wish it was more often.  But, I guess I'm doing ok as a mom.

I keep hearing the strangest things come out of my mouth to these crazy children. I just thought it would be fun to keep a running list.

1. Journey get off the table and put the vacuum down.
2. Me to Daniel, "Is that a June bug you just put in your pocket?" His answer was, "NO, oh um yeah I mean"


TBC

When I look out in the back yard I can see 8 or so garden beds filled with wonderful soil - 4 x 8 feet plus one for the daughter which is a 4 x 4.  We spent the early morning hours out there today already, just myself and the 4 kids.. It was so peaceful and relaxing.  We were all still in our pajamas.  Mornings like these I feel so thankful they are home schooled.  This was a far cry from the harried, early morning, nothing going right jaunt to the bus stop that I remember. We scavenged the yard for remnants of the old garden.  Piper found a few onions and a couple strawberry plants that were missed from last year to plant in her new raised bed that she made herself.  I transplanted some bulbs and flowers into the new flower herb garden in the front.  Journey used the trowel to dig up weeds and plant them in the empty beds, mostly dandelions but a few sticks as well.  Danny planted wild strawberries in a bed until we build his garden.  He likes red flowers.  Inside the house there are Celosia and Morning Glories that he started well over a month ago.  Kheon my youngest is gonna be the trouble maker of the garden!  He's 14 months old and has just discovered two very dangerous things, digging and climbing.  Oh well I guess I'll have to plant a little extra to allow for sacrifices to childhood discoveries and experimentation.

Just four days ago I didn't think such a lovely morning would be in my future.

Saturday morning started out like most other days.  Except Gina was here and there was a plan involving two women, a truck, and a ridiculous amount of soil to be moved.  As we stood atop of the 33 yards of soil, shoveling it into the back of the truck I remember thinking how brilliant she was.  This was a great way to move the soil.  A whole bed at a time not 16 trips back and forth to the pile!  There was just one caveat.  My back yard is sand, lots of sand, and sand doesn't provide the greatest traction for a loaded truck. So, the truck got stuck.  No problem well just rent a bobcat, pull the truck out and fill all the beds.  Poof done! Not so easy, we almost had the truck out when all four tires on the bobcat started spinning.  And then there were two vehicles stuck.  My husband came home from picking up milk and was a bit upset to see a bobcat in the back yard (especially a stuck one) but he helped us free the truck and then we were able to dig the bobcat out of the hole it was in.  Okay now we were in business. Nope! I had the first load of dirt in the bucket about to dump it it the bed when we discover the front tire of the damn thing was flat, off the rim, stem ripped right from the tube.  Could anything else possibly go wrong? Hopefully not.

We cleaned the truck out (with the askew bumper {sorry Scott!})

Gina went home.

Men came to take away my toy - Bobcat.

And my husband and I spent the next day practically not speaking to each other hauling dirt into all the beds Gina and I had put togther.

Who knew gardening was so hard?

I sure hope next year is easier.

I do find it interesting how women can find the joy in a tough situation and enjoy each others company when men seem to see only 'problems'. I like to think my glass is always half full but Gina's take on the idea is better, her glass is overflowing.

I'm not sure if my husband knows where he left his glass.  It's been missing for some time now.

Okay, this is very disapointing!  These tomatoes just wont grow and it's been almost 6 weeks!  After a consult with Gina I went to Marilyns green house in Lakewood with a specimen.  She thought they could be saved with some quality potting soil and soame fertilizer.  I wish I would have done this a couple of weeks ago.  Anyway Piper, Journey and myself have been replanting all of them this morning into 9 oz dixie cups fro the dollar store.  I hope they all take.

My Brandywines     8
Store Brandywines  10
Rutgers                    28
Sweet Cherries        11
Ginas Saved Seeds  9
Rose De Berne        8

Grand total 74!!

I think I need more...

I finally finished it! My very own solarpathfinder.

The kids have so much fun making their own pizzas on Friday nights. We usually have dough in the fridge for the week and use the last of it on Friday for our pizza dough. We make our own (still in need of a good recipe) sauce from the Romas we canned from last years CSA adventure. Then an hour or so before dinner we make the fresh mozzerella cheese. It's so much fun to see the whole process from grinding the wheat and milking the cows to eating the pizza I guess I'm becoming a "slow food" advocate. Someday I want to grow my own wheat and milk my own cow.

Piper is pretty adventurous in her toppings, she will try a little of everything. Daniel on the other hand like meat. Jouneys pizza looks pretty sad and skimpy - not nearly enough cheese in my opinion. Kheon just gets a cheese pizza at this time. Mike and I like to sneak some mozzerella into our crust. Yummy!!