Harvest and Cayenne Pepper

Today was a beautiful spring day in Southern Illinois.  After I picked up the boys from "school" we came home and started to work in the garden.  Well I worked in the garden while the boys dug worms to put in the compost and worked on watering the garden in one spot.  They are very helpful little gardeners.  They are especially helpful when they get a hold of the hose.  This usually results in all of is wet and one of them freaking out because they got wet.  So then we make our way inside to change loathes just so they can come back out grab the hose and get wet all over agin.  Its a vicious cycle.

Today we got our first small harvest of the year!  Spinach, rainbow swiss char, two different kinds of kale and tow different kinds of lettuce.  There is nothing more satisfying then growing your own food.  I by no means have a "green thumb" and don't even know the half of it when it comes to organic gardening.  Ian is the brains of the operation when it really comes down to it.  With that being said Ian is gone for 28 days and I managed to grow this (picture above)!  So I must be doing something right!  I am actually starting to really enjoy gardening and fine it very relaxing, well when I'm not getting sprayed with freezing cold water.  I can't wait for the day when I have three strapping young men to put to work in the garden whether they like it or not : ).  This is why we have kids right......to put them to work????  Totally kidding the lil guys are here for much more than that.

So here is our small harvest of the day.  We had a very yummy salad and sautéed greens!

Just being outside with the boys working in our garden , listening to all the sounds around me, harvesting a portion of our dinner we worked to grow and just enjoying the beautiful day made me reflect on how lucky we are to have what we have and live somewhere where we do get to be outside and enjoy what mother earth has to give.  Below is a poem that my father in-law wrote that came to mind when I thought of today.

Take a moment, tune into the world

The other world

The real world

The world that is not man-made

Not the indoor air-conditioned, dehumidified,

Audio-amplified, digitally timed, technologically advanced,

Electronically controlled, sanitized, artificially illuminated world.

No, look outward, look back to where you came

Remember??

Soft warm rain

Vibrantly green growing, rampant riotous life

Splashed with blossoming color

Spiced with fecund earthy aromas

Seductive sweet flower scents, pungent wet wood smells.

The drowsy dripping patter on leaves

Periodically accented by the low notes of a dove or

The brief trill of a tree frog

Even the usual background cacophony chorus

crickets, katydids, and cicadas

is stilled this sleepy wet dawn

What a pleasure to take it in......

I mean take it in, literally, through these senses

sight-smell-sound-and touch

Feel it to the degree of feeling part of it

After all, I am - we are-part of it

Remember??

by Fred Hoak 

Summer 2000 

Okay so tonight I am talking to Ryan trying to get some help on how to use our computer when Rio comes running into the room crying with his hands in his mouth.  The amount of saliva coming out of this childs mouth looked like water purring out.  Of course I think the worst, it must be something toxic!  Why I don't know because we have nothing toxic.  So I ask him to take me to what he put in his mouth.  he takes me to the kitchen cupboard still crying, I open it to see a bag of cayenne pepper YIKES!  Rio had chewed on the bag, again.  Yes this is not the first time this has happen.  Why didn't I put it up high you ask, well because I thought after doing it twice before he had learned his lesson.  Nope, there must be something very enticing about that rich burt red color to him.  Well being as thought this has happen before I have googled remedies.  Ice cold milk and holding it in your mouth, easy right.  Yes when your not dealing with a two year old who's mouth is on fire or just a two year old in general.  Oh yes I'm still on the phone with Ryan, why I have no idea maybe because I am too distracted with Rio to say goodbye or I know it will pass so just maybe I'll finish my conversation.  Hahahaha funny right, like that EVER happens.  Have I mentioned that Ryan is the person who would raise our kids if something were to ever happen to us.  I think he may be getting a bit scared of what he has committed too.  I don't think this blog is helping either.  He also just purposed to this wonderful woman Rebekah, I don't think she realizes what she has gotten herself signed up for either.  Okay so I finally say goodbye because its obvious the situation is not getting better.  I hang up the phone with a......see Ryan who could make this stuff up remark.  Well it turns out little Rio has gotten cayenne pepper in his eyes as well.  Call me a horrible mom for not noticing but he has had bad allergies all day and with the crying red puffy eyes are expected.  After a bath, NaNa (blankey) and a lot of cuddles he finally calmed down.  I will have you know the cayenne pepper is now put up high in hopes he isn't drawn to it again.  Which is doubtful considering my children are monkeys.

My poor red puffy mouth and eyed boy : (

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technical problems

okay so I hade many of you say you were having a difficult time following the blog.  If you are not having a hard time please let me know what you did.  I also added a follow by email gadget thingy that will hopefully notify you when I post, so you might want to attempt using that.  Please send me an email with any tips I can post for others or any problems you might still be having.  makandarose@gmail.com

Think PINK and butt cream!

So its been ummm forever since I have written a blog post. This is due to so many factors a big one being my computer was out of commission. Anywho I am up and running and ready to write so my whole five followers can read my blog post!

Today we found out some very very very exciting news! We are do to have a baby girl October 6th! Yikes every time I say it it gets a little more real. The youngest and only girl, this should be interesting. I tell ya I have never been a pink person but bring it on just simple because I can!!!!

Okay so now for one of the chaotic moments in my house (like that ever ends). While I am cooking dinner tonight Rio (the youngest) decides to get a whole tube of desitin and proceed to smear it literally from head too toe! So obviously that calls for emergency stop everything your doing (cooking dinner) bath time. Well about the second I turn the burners off here comes the black puppy Nesta who is now mostly white! You may be asking is there really that much butt cream in one tube??? Well I'm here to tell you there is a new meaning to a little goes a long way! So yes bath time has began, Rio first . Desitin does not easily wash off obviously its meant to protect little bottoms. I finally get Rio clean, he still slighty smells like the cream but I think that will go away over time. Now it's Nesta's turn which I'm a tad bit nervous about being as though it's her first bath. She did awesome and I think actually enjoyed it. So while I am giving Nesta a bath I assume the boys are watching t.v., ha what the hell was I thinking!!! Orion comes running in MOM MOM Rio has something bad. Picture this......wet soapy dog in bath two year old in living room no where in sight with apparently "something bad" this something Orion can not articulate. So obviously safety first I make the on the spot decision to run to the living room. Yes you guessed soapy wet dog is right behind me which is the least of my worries at this point. There stands Rio naked with food coloring! My carpet looks like a damn tye dye experiment! Oh and notice earlier I never said how I went to see if the butt cream was anywhere else hahahaha yep you guessed it little spots all over the middle of the carpet amongst other things. I pulled myself together put nesta back in the bath finally finished up with that. Obviously solution to carpet get out the steam cleaner, yes we had to actually buy one of these a while back due to our children renting one just didn't cut it at a certain point. Well not that long ago I let my 21 yr old brother borrow the steam cleaner. Well who knows what he used it for and I don't want to know but I will tell you this, it was the most god awful smell when I opened that thing up that I have ever smelled in my life! Lets not forget I'm pregnant and the gag reflex is going strong! So now my cleaner is in pieces in bath tub soaking in cleaner. Now I sit here and write because this is my cheap version of therapy while my darling little Angels (heathens) are fast a sleep in their beds. Yep my day in a nut shell.......sigh.

Any suggestions on removing food coloring????