Deck the hall with lots of merry!

Down on the funny farm, we've really been enjoying our winter holidays. We started off by going to an awsome concert in Kirkland, Geoffrey Castle's Holiday Show is an absolute must see. Get your tickets early!

We celebrated Midwinter and Yule last night. David and I went out for dinner, without the future farmers. (That hardly ever happens.)

We've also been enjoying holiday foods, especially cookies! Thank goodness, I'm running alot! I average a 10K a day now, wahoo!

Tonight, we went to the Bellevue Botanical Gardens to see the lights. Every year, volunteers light up the plants and transform the gardens into a winter wonderland of beauty. And it gets better every year (except for the traffic!).

Movie alert: If you haven't seen it yet, go see Avatar! It's amazing! See it in 3-D!

Happy, Merry Everything!

3 Teens!

A news update: Anni turns thirteen (13). We now live with three teenagers in the house! I'm earning every one of my grey hairs! No, seriously, the future farmers are awesome. I'm a lucky mom!

The weather has finally warmed back up into the 40's. We no longer have to worry about the chickens freezing to their perches. And despite the cold weather, they're still laying eggs! We believe this is due to the clear top we put on the coop, clever design that!

I'm still running and my knees have not yet abandoned my body, but my pants are threatening to. I seriously need new jeans in a much smaller size. The future farmers are playing a new game, 'Honey, my mom is shrinking'.

Lisa came over for holiday card making on Saturday, and Sunday, we celebrated Judith's birthday with a movie and lunch. This year our house smells like the great northwest woods thanks to all the fresh greenery around the house. We have a Balsam fir, extremely fragrant and lots of garland (juniper, I believe) We also have oodles of variegated holly and mistletoe over all the doorways (hey, I like kisses). We've decided to take a more natural approach to our holidays, since we celebrate absolutely everything!

December!

Our frosted Chinese lanterns on the back deck.

Thanksgiving dinner on the funny farm.

The younger farmers can't wait to dig in!

In other news, farmer Alex had a birthday. We went to the zoo. He really liked the bats. Anni's is coming up this week. I'll be living with three teenagers! Say a blessing and eat a vitamin or two for me!

We've been busy doing lots of holiday events. We went to the Pike Place Market the day after Thanksgiving for holiday favorites, pomegranates! yum. Yesterday, we did some holiday shopping and then the river lights walk in Redmond in the evening.

Our weather has turned for the cold, with a few places getting light snow last night. Today, I took the older farmers to see New Moon. Ari liked it, Alex did not. Then I went running. I can do a 10k now, yipee!

Nano, the national novel writing contest has ended. The Seattle area won again for most words and donations! I wrote almost 186,000 words on my story, and have added another 120, 000 since. So, a very productive November! I'm still working on the novel and having so much fun. I love the story!

And a project update to close with:
1) We are still eating seasonally and as locally as possible by continuing our CSA farm box with a local organic farms and trips to the Pike Place market.

2) We are still attempting to grow more of our own food. The chickens are producing eggs, and we still have some greens and herbs growing in the garden. Our attempt at winter garden was not sucessful. The heavy rains caused a huge influx of slugs! They ate most of the small plants.

3) This is a tough time of year to decrease consumerism, but we're trying. We've limited everyone to just a couple of gifts. We're not wrapping gifts within our family, instead placing them in large decorated bags - reusable. We've also asked the future farmers to chose an experience over a thing as part of their holidays, more fun for everyone.

4) We're spending lots of time doing holiday events in our area, winter hiking, and staying snuggly at home.

And the feet go on

Check out that egg count! We're at the halfway point.

In other news, all three future farmers and I took an urban adventure to the Seattle Aquarium on Friday. We decided to become members! We saw a sleeping octopus, several wolf eels, and a giant clam (and lots of other cool critterage). Our favorite was a swimming lobster. It was really something to see its little swimerettes moving.

Ari and I went to a write in at my friend Lisa's house this Saturday. It was very productive for my nano story. Alex came along to play video games with another member's son. Ari and I tried guitar hero. I suck!

On Sunday, I decided to rearrange the Learning Center. I'm counting that as my workout for the day, as I had to move five bookcases, 2 chest of drawers, a sofa, two computers and desks, and a boatload of book baskets! It took all day!

The winter gardening is not going well. The veggies are way too wet! But, the chickens are happy and laying. The running is going very well too. I can now run for an hour straight again. So far, my knees and ankles are not complaining. Now, I need to run faster!

Nanowrimo write-in

Check out that egg count folks. We're up to 37. I think I can cancel eggs on the grocery order for awhile. All 3 hens are laying steadily now.

Today was a great writing day. It was nanowrimo day at the Hugo House in Seattle. I wrote 10,000 words on my story today which put me over the 50,000 word mark. Yipee!!!

We had to do some winter weather shopping this weekend. Anni needed shoes. Alex needed long sleeved shirts and a jacket. Ari, as always, needed cash for coffee and books. I stocked up on gloves, hats, shoes, and workout gear. Yes, I'm running again. (Say a prayer for my knees and ankles!)

eggs and words

All three hens are laying now! The egg count is up to 29. Our weather has returned to wet and icky. We had another big storm this evening. The hoop houses have managed to stay upright, but everything is very soggy!The baby broccoli are happy and growing!

The word count for writing is 25,000 on the new story. (My fingers and brain hurt!)

Write, write, write!

The egg count is up to 25! Out local farmer's markets have closed for the season. Our local produce stand had a going out of business sale. Apples were $10/box, pumpkins $.50 each, and potatoes were ridiculously low per bag. Our favorite find was veggie chips for $2/bag, normally $7/bag. Now we'll have to journey to Seattle for market finds.

Sorry, the funny farm posts have been a bit sparse lately. I'm participating in Nanowrimo, a novel writing experience. So, I've been busy writing and typing and writing and typing. I'm also attending lots of writing workshops. I went to two this weekend that were awesome. I'm up to 18,350 words so far. I'm shooting for 50,000 words this month. Wish me luck!

Pictures of the Castle in Victoria

I especially like all the beautiful stain glass windows.

Fish, waterfalls, and dogs!

The Salmon were plentiful at the fishery along Highway 2. We counted over a hundred!
We took the trail up to the three Wallace Falls today. Here are some shimmering mushrooms we found on a log.

And a lovely fern frond.

And a bush in berry bloom.

And here come the falls.

Alex and Ari made it up to the lower falls.

David and Anni made it to the Middle Falls.

And Barkley and I made it all the way to the Upper Falls!

On the way down, we encountered two very unfriendly dogs, off leash. Barkley sat and wagged his tail at them until one of them grabbed my arm in his mouth. Then Barkley became super protector and went for them. Barkley was unhurt but very tired after hiking 5 miles up and down a mountain and being a hero!
And here he is all tired out after earning a spot on the sofa for the evening.

Fall Festivals

Guess who came to dinner? Our friend Lisa. Hey Lisa, look out where you put your hand!

Something creepy this way comes!

Our Halloween dinner! A stuffed pumpkin stew, with chips, fresh salsa, guacamole, pumpkin brew, and a Halloween cake. Delish!

Alex showing his costume. He's being a loser! (Must be that Yankee's t-shirt!)

Anni as a cheerful pumpkin!

David as the Phantom of the opera. Ari thinks he's hysterical!

and because this is the fall festival post...

Another creepy crawlie. This is a giant bird eating tarantula!