Sukkot Photos

Mom and I sang several songs together.

Someone caught a profile photo of our family...

Sukkot Photos

YRM took quite a few photos and posted them on Facebook, I'm in a few of them. Enjoy!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=512823&id=465899410342

Home from Sukkot

Wow, what a trip! We drove over 900 miles the first day making it to Belle Fourche SD by bedtime. On day two we visited the Laura Ingalls homestead in DeSmet SD, it was 5 hours out of our way but we had promised my niece that we would go and it was worth the stop. After that dad decided that we would drive nonstop to Indiana so we drove all night, arriving at our destination the following morning.

We tried to catch up on sleep before the first meeting but there was just no way. We nearly got scared half to death that first day when there was a misunderstanding and we thought we had to sing at the first meeting, thankfully it was only a misunderstanding! The feast was wonderful, we met so many people! We played music on several occasions, went horseback riding, hiking, there was a BBQ, pioneer day, visiting around the camp fire. Every day there was at least one service. We learned many things and saw 11 people baptized!

On the way home we drove 1100 miles to Rapid City on the first day, on day two we visited aunt Helen and uncle Art and cousin's Sue and Rich. We also saw Mnt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, and Cosmos. On day three we drove through Sturgis and visited cousins Julie and Bill, then we drove on to Belle Fourche and took Rachael through the cemetery where our great great grandfather is buried. After that we topped off the day with a stop at the BBCR(Big Bonato Canyon Ranch) where the original Bonato homesteads still stand. Rachael had never been there so I took her on a hike to the Greslin homestead. We had to crawl under or over about 7 fences and walk probably 2 or 3 miles. We collected a few rocks and a deer scull. When we got back, Martin had showed up so we stood around visiting for a bit before getting back on the road. We drove till Big Timber MN where we stayed for the night. Our last day of travel we stopped at Butte to look at the mines, in Alberton we checked out the bookstore, and in Haugan we visited the souvenier store, 50,000 silver dollars. After that we had no motivation but to drive till we got home.

At home I found Flavia waiting for me, she was so happy that she sat by me for hours just watching and purring and occasionally meowing at me. Sadly, my 15 year old cat Mimi was likely eaten by the neighbor's rowdy dogs while we were gone. We looked all around for evidence but found nothing. Only Uncle Tony's story of chasing the dogs off, later he discovered that not all the cats were showing up for meals.

I'm not so happy to get back to farming, I sure would like it to be the dead of winter right now. I had to pick up my 5 goats from the goat sitter, I think I'll sell them as fast as I can and buy new ones in the spring!

It is good to be home though, in spite of all the work that is staring me in the face. At least I have my own bed to rest in and all the wonderful comforts of home.

Sukkot Preparation Odds N' Ends

Sukkot is getting so close now and I'm excited! Since we are traveling for Sukkot there are many things to prepare. I packed my suitcase already just so it would be out of the way and I won't have to think about it anymore until it's time to load the van.

Today I delivered the goats to the goat sitter then mom and I made a huge batch of veggie juice and green smoothies. We are going 100% raw for a few days before and after Yom Kippur. Since she is trying to improve her health and I'm trying to keep mine we thought it was a good time to insert a bit of a fast before a fast followed by another bit of a fast. :) Though right now I'm craving cheese and corn chips, I'll resist the urge and drinking my peach, blackberry, spinach, banana, and swiss chard smoothie, which by the way is quite delicious!

Tomorrow dad and I will drive to either Biggs OR, or Portland to pick up my niece Rachael who will be keeping the feasts with us. I'm very excited to be including her. She will miss 3 weeks of school so my job through out the feast is to make sure she stays caught up on homework in between high days and Sabbaths. I pray that by including her, Torah observant lifestyle will affect her life positively in the long run.

So somehow between now and early Tuesday morning we have to pack the last minute stuff like ice chests with food for the road and fresh produce from the garden, and yes, of course we will take our Champion juicer...I'll be juicing each day whether in a hotel or a sukkah. Perhaps I will sew on the last of my buttons for the new jumper I made while dad is driving.

The bright side of all this busy-ness is that we have Shabbat to rest on and Yom Kippur as well. Two days to set aside all busy plans and preparations and focus on Yahweh. During this season, extra days off from work are SO appreciated!

Then there is my poor cat Flavia, she doesn't get to keep the feast with us this year :( Last year we took her to the mountains with us and even though she hated the drive she enjoyed the stay. This year the amount of miles we have to drive, I decided would be harder on her than being separated from the family. She thinks she is a person after all, sleeps on the bed, watches tv, and she likes me to watch her eat several times a day. Sometimes she won't touch her food unless I stand there and watch, it's crazy! Also she is best friends with our dog who gets to come to the feast...it's just not fair being a cat I guess. Hope she eats while I'm gone.

Anyway after 2 and a half days of driving we should reach our destination in Indiana, Yahweh willing.

May Yahweh bless your Yom Kippur and Sukkot!

Something new

These days I have been preparing for Sukkot. Our family will be traveling to Indiana to meet with some brethren there. I'm so excited about the trip and being the goosy girl that I am I just had to have some new clothes for the trip! One thing you learn really fast when you dress in modest dresses all the time(not to mention, natural fibers) is that there is no where convenient to shop especially in a town like Moses Lake. So I decided to order a few unsewn jumpers and a dress online. After my order arrived and I examined the lovely cut-outs, I started thinking about the insides of all my other homemade garments which begin to fray after being washed once. I knew the only answer was to buy a serger so I headed to town the next day and bought a Bernina 1150.The store had to order it and while I waited for it's arrival I learned how to operate the same machine at the store. The funny part of it is that I had ordered the garments unsewn to save money but then here I am buying a new serger! Dad did reassure me that since I've been sewing since I was 10 years old that it would be a good investment so I went ahead. After my new little treasure arrived I set to serging my garments. It's so unbelievable!!! Every edge that I've sewn...and I was just smiling the whole time knowing that the insides of my clothes would look as nice as the outsides even after being washed. I've officially renamed my serger "the happiness machine" lol! Mom says I'm totally spoiled but I don't care...just look at the inside of my dress!

Cats Love Cantaloupe

Mom and I have been doing some major diet makeover in our kitchen lately. It's been on the to do list for quite some time but getting around to doing the to do list isn't always as easy as it sounds. A while back I bought the book Whole Foods And Healing Recipes by Ron Lagerquist. It gathered dust for about 5 months before I felt so bad about keeping it hidden away in the bedroom that I brought it out to re-read. By some miracle I was able to persuade mom to read it too and next thing I knew we were buying carrots, corn, and cantaloupe!

Now speaking of cantaloupe, we've been buying "herds of cantaloupe"(as Lagerquist says) each week for a dollar a piece at the roadside stand. Now mom is not convinced yet that we should juice the whole cantaloupe rind and all but did you know that is the most nutritious way to eat a cantaloupe? According to Lagerquist's research, cantaloupe(rind and all) are high in vitamin A and C, myoinositol, and a large amount of digestive enzymes. They are also good for weight loss and in fighting off certain types of cancer!

Learning some of these fascinating facts on cantaloupe has been enough to keep me interested in eating it for breakfast...but the rinds? A few year back(honestly it was like 13 years back) we realized that our cat Mimi LOVES cantaloupe! We found it funny so we tried feeding her all sorts of fruits and veggies. She didn't really catch on to the vegan concept. We did have another cat that liked peaches and pineapple, and our cat Amy tasted Dr. Pepper once...um that's another story though. So, back to the rinds. Last year I had too many cantaloupe in the garden and they were starting to rot so I took little old Mimi out there and showed her where to harvest and she just dug those fanged teeth right into the rind and began eating. So the cat knows what's good for her and she's not going to let the taste of a tough cantaloupe rind get in the way of her raw food consumption! So take a lesson from my cat and eat your rinds.

Well so far each morning I'm still throwing the rinds out the back door hoping to hit the compost bucket and occasionally I'll throw one toward the cat. And if one of these mornings you catch me gnawing on cantaloupe rind...don't raise your eyebrows at me, I'm just trying to follow Mimi's good example.

A long day in the life of me.

I didn't feel like doing anything today, not sure what's up with that. When lack of motivation strikes what is one to do? I woke at the reasonable time of 6:30 and hopped right out of bed. I made straight for the kitchen and juiced 9 carrots, a huge beet greens and all, 3 stalks of celery, 5 small cucumbers, half of a yellow pepper, and an apple. With a breakfast like that I should have felt ready for the long day of hard work that lay ahead(and for those of you who are wondering if I drank all that juice by myself, no I did not, I shared with dad and mom). Next I headed for the barn but somehow I ended up sitting in dad's office(which, by the way is in the opposite direction) when I should have been milking the goats. I did eventually make it out to the barn a half hour late. After coming back in and cleaning the kitchen the "blahs" hit. I was determined to go outside and get something done but since I was feeling uninspired I asked dad to assign me a job! He gave me a few things to do and it's a good thing they were quick and easy because half way into the first job I was BORED and it was hot. I followed with a few chores of my own choosing and gave them 100% of my half hearted effort. By 1 in the afternoon I was fed up so I showered and set up my sewing station to do some mending. I mended one skirt in about 10 minutes then got sidetracked by the fabric supply in the sewing room which proved to be somewhat productive since I was able to sort out a few things that needed to go away. I never found the dream piece of fabric to make a new dress from but I did manage to cover every surface in the living room with pieces of clothing and cloth.

Somehow in the middle of that I started thinking about FOOD! Homemade bread and nutty crackers, yum! Last time I had thought to make bread I could not find my favorite recipe but I was pretty certain I knew where to find the cracker recipe. So I abandoned the sewing machine, the clothing scattered all over the place, and the boxes in the sewing room for the recipe shelf in the kitchen. To my delight I found both the bread and cracker recipe together! I set to digging out the grains, nuts, and seeds that make the yummiest bread and crackers.

Now as it's getting to be evening, the crackers are finished and the bread is rising. I still feel like a slug but at least sometime in the next hour I'll be a slug full of the yummiest bread ever. Then with the way I feel, perhaps I should take a nap...maybe I should have taken a nap this morning at 11 when the thought first crossed my mind...on the other hand would I have found my favorite bread recipe if I had taken a nap?...come to think of it, I can't take a nap(exasperated sigh), I have a big mess to clean up!