one

Happy birthday, Marie!  She is one year old!  We celebrated with a pumpkin extravaganza at the farm. Lots of Marie's friends came, ate cake, sang happy birthday, rolled around in the pumpkin patch, and generally had a grand celebratory day in honor of Marie's birth day.

Marie has been learning lots of new words lately. She now answers "what does the kitty say?" with "aaow" and "what does the doggie say?" with "woof woof". She picked up the latter while we were farm sitting last week and there was a dog. Some other words she says include touchdown (complete with raised arms), kitty, poop, mama, dada, toes, cow, moo, quack...

She also walks! She started taking steps a week or two ago, and yesterday took ~15 in a row. Watch out, Ginger kitty.

Here are some photos of her pumpkin birthday.  It is beautiful to be able to celebrate our precious daughter, and the whole year she has been with us. She is loved!

Our little pumpkin

What.. did you think we were joking about rolling around in the pumpkin patch?

They are all looking at the camera! Miracle! So many boys...

First cake in an overstimulated environment

she's on a roll*

Marie finally learned how to roll over today! Once she realized she could do it, she proceeded to continue rolling over for the next twenty minutes. And since she can only turn from back to belly, she would cry and yell once she was on her belly. We'd flip her over again, and then, repeat. Over and over.. fun game, huh guys?

I am sure you have all seen babies roll over. So, in lieu of that video, I will instead post a photo to pull out on Marie's first dates:And one of her beautiful kissable face at sleepy peace (click on this one to see those gorgeous lashes close up):
In other news, I got a garden plot in the new Community Garden! Yay! We'll have access to them mid-April (they have to build the raised beds first). So I can start some seeds now and hope they grow. Any suggestions to heat seeds from below without buying anything?

*I apologize. That's the best pun I could come up with, and Joel isn't home.

Our habit

Many mornings a week, right around the time the baby starts to show she's ready for her first nap, I bundle us up, put her in the carrier, tie on my walkin' shoes, and head out. We walk to Twin Ponds Park, just a few blocks away from home. Once we enter the park, our walk is through the Trail of Cedars, between the two ponds full of ducks, around the soccer field, over the bridge where we hear all sorts of birds we don't know how to identify, through the 'Future Community Garden'* space, around the always-empty tennis court, all over the arboretum, and then back around one of the ponds and back through the Trail of Cedars, to back home. The baby is usually asleep by the "between the two ponds" part, and stays asleep until we reach our door, and my rhythmic walking stops.

Setting out, it is clear we are not out of the urban jungle yet, if you spy the graffiti. Baby Marie's hat is one that was made for one of my brothers when they were a baby - anyone know who knit it? I suspect Grandma Berwold.

Baby woke up earlier than usual this day, and took in some of the return walk.

*I will know Thursday if I get a spot in the Community Garden. I hope so!

Why we moved back to America: Parades

Since it has been 4 months since our last post, I have concluded that you must be sufficiently questioning what we have been doing. Last time we posted (excepting the Salmiak Shampoo 'experience'), we were shivering in a very cold Glasgow. Now, we are quite warm here in suburbia. Since we drive everywhere, we never have to wear coats. I forget that quite often, and end up bringing a coat with me, where it stays lonely on the back seat until I carry it back into the house.

Joel and I are both working for the U.S. Census now! Woo hoo, temporary employment! It's going to be fun. (really!)

Anyway, enough about us. What I really want to tell you about is America. It is a funny culture they have here. They do love a parade. And how can one help but join the spectacle? Come and see:

All the awards go to this woman and her doggie for Most Excited Spectator! (Not even in the parade!)This adorable green horse actually moved up and down! Wonders never cease.

A free-flowing wine float is always the thing for family parades...

The Seattle Seafair Pirates - always a joy

This shot exemplifies the nature of the American parade - a constant barrage of BRIGHT colors and tacky decor!

Stayin' true to the cowboy heritage.. gotta love the jacket.

Farm animals on parade. Wonderful.

The daffodil princesses!

My little brother leading his high school band!

Grandma and Grandpa, Joel, Dad and Mom. (Note the free Census tote bag - classy!)

Well, if that wasn't sufficient to fill your need for a proper parade, please come visit. Maybe we can find another one.

Biggest Kitchen Table -- Food

I appreciate the comments on the last post regarding Living Deliberately and Money. So many of you comment on Facebook, I wonder if you realise I actually haven't been on facebook for over a year, and this is actually a post on our blog! But I do get and appreciate the comments, all the same.

I relate so much to D and T, who both related to how living a transplanted lifestyle makes simplifying life and belongings a lot more... easier? necessary? A little of both, I suppose. Moving to a different country is one of those things where you do begin to realise you are not defined by your possessions. We don't collect much unnecessary junk. We don't buy lots of things, because we realise we'll just have to get rid of most of it again when we leave here. Any spending decisions are truly intentional - is this worth shipping back to the states?

I love that T brought up her intentional choice not to have a TV. We're the same. I think it's been so good and I highly recommend not having one, at least for a while, especially at the beginning of a marriage. That is such a magnificent, underrated way to simplify life, begin to establish what is important to you, and think about spending your time intentionally instead of letting it get sucked away by the wires.
Biggest Kitchen Table -- Food
Today's discussion is on food. I am intimidated to start this blog post, because I want to keep it short, and food is probably the one subject I think the most about. There is so much to say! So I think I will focus on my accomplishments in this area in the past year or so, and my goals for the next year or so.

Things I am glad I've changed in the last year:

• I've begun growing! I have my two tomato plants, and lots of spinach. I planted lettuce but the aphids enjoyed those and as such I have had to abandon them. I'm doing it the good old fashioned way without chemicals.
  
• I've learned to like: mushrooms, tomatoes, plain yogurt, Greek yogurt, green olives, balsamic vinegar. (I know, I know, how could I not like those things before?)
  
• We make lots more homemade.
• I make our breakfast granola. I feel like this improves my day so much! I love doing this!
• Read Nourishing Traditions. I've started applying her ideas more to our cooking and eating. She really gives convincing arguments for fermentation, sprouting seeds/beans, etc.
• We cook mostly everything from scratch.
• We buy local a lot more, and are a lot more conscientious when it comes to this. It's fairly easy to do here, besides the issue of citrus. I definitely draw the line when it comes to foods from south africa or south america; that's pretty much the furthest away you get here. We can get everything we need from the UK or Spain at the furthest. Except limes.

Goals - in the next year or as soon as possible:

• Clean and reorganise our cupboard. It's shameful, really. Full of all the pots/cooking things, as well as all our grains/cans/pasta/flour/etc. So haphazard.
  
• Defrost our fridge. I don't even want to talk about why we have to defrost our fridge. Sometime I think I'll do a post on our fridge, to show you what we have to work with here. It has about 3 cubic inches of space. I'm exaggerating just a little.
  
• Try growing a couple new vegetables. I expect that during the next growing season, we'll be living with the parents. My growing capacity will still be limited although I will have a lot more outdoor space, at least for pots.
• Grow garlic
  
• Buy predominately organic dairy products
• Research & start composting. It's just impossible in this flat, but I'm trying to research a bit more and figure out what would be feasible to do once we leave this place.
  

Future goals - long term:

• Use open-pollinated / heirloom seeds. In other words, the way our grandparents used to grow things. Keep the same seeds from the same produce year after year. The books Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and The Omnivore's Dilemma convinced me of this. I might start this with tomatoes next year.
  
• Grow zucchini/courgette, more tomatoes, rhubarb, beans, squashes, onions, garlic, cabbage, lots more veg.
• Learn more about taking care of soil.

I think I'll cut it short from here. Food is one of those subjects that I can go on and on about. I think many of you are passionate about it as well. Let's keep encouraging each other and learning from each other in this area! A few of us have become fairly proficient at living in a small place while still trying to live within our morals when it comes to food and food systems.

Rhonda from the Down to Earth Blog is setting this week aside to look at how well we are sticking to our goals of simplifying life, reducing excessive belongings, and taking care with the way we manage our households in this way. As this is something I've been focusing on more, I thought I'd join in with her and see if I notice any ways I can make our life a bit more simple and sustainable.

One thing I expect to focus on is reducing the number of disposable items in our lives - we try to do this but even the past couple of months I've been realising more things we could easily do.

I'll be recording my conclusions here. Rhonda is doing this every day of the next week, but I'll probably follow along at my own pace - I can't keep up with the daily blog roll.

Hope you are all well, feel free to pick up ideas along the way!

This evening I got the chance to do some things in the kitchen. I made a lasagne which is now in the fridge ready to be baked for tomorrow's dinner. I made rhubarb crumble (Nigella's recipe from Feast) with some early rhubarb from Yorkshire I got for cheap. The crumble is is cooling on the stove now. I also had time to put away the clean dishes and wash all of the newly dirty ones I created tonight.

Being able to do household tasks, particularly food-related ones, really gives me contentment. I feel confident that I am coping with life well when the flat is reasonably tidy and the food situation is not completely erratic. I do find it very difficult to keep up with domestic tasks when I work full time. Weekday evenings are notoriously bad for being able to cook a dinner as well as tidy and still feel like Joel and I get some time to talk to each other. So often, things are not as tidy or organised as I would like. However, those things are less important than building up our marriage and ensuring we are on the same page and don't feel neglected by each other. Often, we leave the housework (but probably not as often as Joel would like :-).

I was able to do so much this evening because -we had leftovers for dinner -Joel went over to Michael's this evening to get advice on fixing his bass -my evening event was cancelled.
So you can see this is not generally possible to get to accomplish so much on a weekday evening.

I consider this evening an energising break. Does that sound strange, when I spent it doing tidying, cleaning, and cooking? That is what I enjoy doing. Mostly the cooking part, although I do really enjoy washing dishes when I am not rushed and overwhelmed by lots to do.

I came across this article that I had read a couple of months ago, and thought it was worth sharing with you. It is about the value of homemaking/householding. Another excellent read is this article from Rhonda at Down to Earth (which incidentally would be my most recommended blog).

In the last couple years Joel and I have become more and more wanting to be responsibly domestically. This includes eating food we make ourselves, so we can avoid additives and get more natural flavour and nutrition; cleaning with natural ingredients like baking soda and lemon juice to we don't use unnecessary chemicals in the home; and making it recreational to cook. Incidentally, all of these things not only ensure we are healthier, but they also save money. There are loads of areas we have to improve in, mostly because we don't have time to do all the things we would like, like baking all our own bread (although that was working well for a monthish in the late winter).

The challenge we have at the moment is that both of us are 'working' in some form or another, and thus we do not have a homemaker. We hope that in the future I will be able to stay at home, and this will be a priority for us. I look forward to being able to focus more on making wise household decisions and building my skills in areas that are often forgotten these days.

I know many of you who read (women and men) are very skilled at various aspects of homemaking. Do you find contentment in it? Fulfillment? Joy?
Of course if you have any tips of easy ways to make our lives simpler and more homemade, do share!

Okay I suppose I better get started on the rhubarb crumble, seeing as Joel doesn't like rhubarb!

Update: Mm that rhubarb crumble is delicious, with custard (storebought, not homemade!) over it. I think Joel may even like this one (though he will never admit it!).

PS Grandma B, I would have used your rhubarb crisp recipe but somehow have lost it. :-)

Just a reminder that this is in that book

Since Luke reminded me today. Read it if you're interested...

Luke 6:27-30 (NASB)
"But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back."

6:33a
"If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you?"

6:35
"But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men."

No one is really mistreating me at the moment, and I can't think of any 'enemies', but this is the attitude I want, especially having benefited from it in others. Also, I'm sure this relates to 'The Economy', 'National Security', and 'Foreign Policy' somehow, but I won't speculate.

Victory Gardens

The greatest thing of today.

And for all of you super-Americans, the name should make you happy.

Things like this make me love life, people, and even America.

Basil (Rhymes with Razzle-Dazzle!)

Here is the newest addition to our family! He is adorable. We got him from our friend Himara who is moving back to Sri Lanka after 5 years in Glasgow. She needed to find a home for little Basil, and had no takers! I emailed our landlord who very graciously said he would overlook the 'no animals' rule as he didn't want Basil to be homeless. Aww. Basil is not homeless.

He is so friendly and I think Joel and he are going to be best friends. He likes to sit on Joel's neck (or anyone's neck, but I'm not used to that sort of thing yet). I think he likes Joel's beard a lot.

He likes mushrooms and carrots. He is used to eating lots of veg. He is a light sandy colour, with the trademark red eyes. Nice guy.

I hope you agree...

You are in a grocery store. You see a package of delicious grapes for £2 (or $2). Then you see a different package of equally delicious grapes for £2.50 (or $2.50). Which one will you choose?

I am guessing the answer would be the cheaper ones. And rightly so. However, what if you found out the grapes that are a bit more expensive actually benefited the grower, the grower's children, and the grower's community?
What if you found out by buying the more expensive grapes, you were actually contributing to building schools for children who don't have access, or getting clean drinking water to small villages, or ensuring the people's fields are cared for properly so they can keep producing the grapes?
What if you found out by paying the bit extra, you knew the grape growers would work in better conditions, receive decent wages, and live a decent life?

You may have guessed, the more expensive grapes are Fairtrade. By buying Fairtrade products, we can know we are contributing to the benefit of disadvantages families in generally poorer areas. I spend time thinking about this, and I want to challenge myself, and you, with this. If we know that by paying a bit more, we are benefiting people in many ways, is it not our moral responsibility to do so? As fellow humans, and for some of us, as people who strive to live with Christ's mercy, doing good when we are able, should we not buy the Fairtrade label products when we can?
I don't think this is something to feel obliged to do. In fact, I think it is a wonderful opportunity to do good in others' lives. And easily done.

"Anyone then, who knows the good he ought to do, and does not do it, sins" James 4.17

I do not see this as a political issue. I am not trying to preach politics. I see it as an issue of humanity, of bettering our world and our communities. Of giving people opportunities. I want to enact this in my life more and more. I have a long way to go.
If you see these labels on a product, you can know it is Fairtrade and the money you spend is benefiting communities and families. Our stores here in Glasgow stock many Fairtrade products, usually bananas, grapes, limes, coffee, tea, sugar, etc. Lots of different things. I'm sure the store you usually shop in does too. Have a look! You can know you are doing something good for minimal cost and maximum rewards.