The Dangers of Romance

Whether as a means of inspiration, or a sense of some manner of purpose, it can be tempting to romanticize the lives of our forebears. Of this folly, I find women, in particular, are often guilty. We use romantic versions of nearly every lifestyle choice to bolster our spirits and convince us that we're doing the right thing, whether that thing is conquering a board room , raising a family or, perhaps most often, being a housewife.

What's the harm, one might ask. On the surface, there is no harm at all. It's good to have rolemodels and hero(ine)s. Reaching for a time-honored ideal couldn't ever be bad, right? Wrong. It can be very bad. You see, the past has never been as glamorous as we might want to believe.

There are a few eras which fall prey to the Romantic Flaw more than others, but amongst many homesteaders, Victorian times get the worst of it.

It's not our fault, really. Unless we have researched extensively, all we know of the age is fed to us through upper middle-class tales of flowing petticoats, summering in the country, gathering eggs from a sunlit field, and receiving guests in our fire-warmed parlors. We envision hardwood kitchen islands covered in seasonal produce, freshly baked goods, and being surrounded by polite children studying embroidery, tending the gardens, and dutifully following their parents' command.

In 1999, UK Channel 4 produced a mini-series reality experiment in an attempt to dispel at least of few of these myths. The 1900 House was the three-month chronicle of a typical British family sent to live exactly as they would've in the year 1900, at the tale end of Victoria's reign.

The military family of six moved into a spotlessly recreated 1900s London townhouse and were forbidden from employing any modern knowledge or tools for the duration of the show. The husband wore a period uniform, shaved with a straight razor, and was charged with tending the fire in the family range. The children had to learn to occupy themselves with quiet hobbies and a lack of social life, as well as stodgy, utilitarian food which left the young son fully non-plussed. Then, there were the women.

The mother of this tribe soon learned who got the rawest of deals during these post-Dickensian days. For the first month, she arose at dawn and began cooking the porridge, fielding door-knocking merchants offering their goods, ensuring the children were occupied, and beginning her daily cleaning which, in a coal-fired soot-filled home, was a non-stop effort. Laundry, boiled in baking soda water, took three days to fully complete. The state-of-the-art cooker often failed, meaning a roast might take 6 hours, and hot baths were but a mere dream. Family swimming fun was off-limits to her during her "curse" time, and life was a sour-making, grumpy chain of drudgery...until she pawned it off on someone of a lower class.

Those halcyon days of yore were anything but—choked with pollution, poverty, and inequalities we've long since forgotten. There were moments, of course. Moments of perfectly genuine bliss, at least for those of middle class or higher. And I'm certain that those of even the poorest ranks learned to laugh past the hunger, maltreatment, arthritis, and illness.

While taking lessons from this era can bring a needed knowledge to modern times, don't try to recreate the idealized vision of the past. You will falter and fail, and may even resent yourself for an inability to keep up with this romanticized version of days gone by. Instead, enjoy your modern freedoms. Savor the time gifted to you by washing machines, microwaves, and refrigerators. Thank the stars above that you may choose to live as basic or as complex as you wish, and that no man, woman, nor tome of proper household management can set you off your path.

Live genuinely. Live uniquely. Live presently. It's all we've got. And give the 1900 House a few hours of your time. It's well worth it.

The Dirt Pharmer

I, like most of you, am often a mess of common, niggling ailments. Migraines that sour my mood, sniffles that sap my energy, muscle aches that make the couch all too appealing, and who doesn't get a bout of insomnia now and again? In my small family of pill-poppers, we spend twenty or more dollars each month on treatments for each of these issues. We have pain killers, sleeping pills, allergy tablets, everything. Frankly, I'm sick of sick...sicker still of pills and expense. So, to the dirt I go. I decided it was time to grow a medicine cabinet in my own back yard.

Now, herbalism can be risky business. Certain bits, parts, and formulas can lead to all sorts of illnesses and even (scary music here) death. Upon deciding to embark on this herbal journey, I took up the books (well, okay, the net) and began researching. Given the choices, I decided to go with mostly herbs which have culinary uses as well as medicinal. The obvious reason is, if you can eat it in a soup, it probably won't kill you. A secondary reason was to save money on both the kitchen and pharmaceutical fronts. I've added a few other commonly used plants to the list and have come up with what I think will be a fairly handy variety of useful ingredients for infusions, tinctures, capsules, and poultices. Hang on tight. This is a long one!

Here's what we have growing:

Aloe: The sap of this succulent topically treats nearly any skin irritation or injury. It can also be taken internally, but that carries more risk.
Basil (sweet): Leaves, taken as an infusion or capsule, is good for digestive troubles and is also a mild relaxant.
Calendula (Marigold): Petals of this common flower, infused in water, may relieve stomach cramps, fever, and flu symptoms.
California Poppy: Root oil can be directly applied to achy teeth. A petal infusion is often used as a mild sleep aid and anti-anxiety tonic.
Coriander (Cilantro): Infusions from the leaves and stems are soothing and may aid in digestion. Ground seeds can be formed into oatmeal-mixed poultices for achy joints.
Dill: Leaves treat nausea and gas, and may aid in milk production for lactating mothers. Most often taken as an infusion, or as pure oil diluted in water.
Echinacea: Common herb for treating general cold and flu symptoms. Also a noted anti inflammatory. It can be infused, but has a slightly foul smell, so is general preferred in capsules.
Lavender: Very popular herb used for treating stress, anxiety, and insomnia when infused or used in a bath. The gentle oil can also be good for skin irritations.
Marjoram: Leaves can be used to aid with depression and digestive stress when taken as a tincture or infusion. Poultices may relieve swelling on tender joints. Oil can be used to treat toothache, and inhaling the steam from an infused bath can aid respiratory conditions.
Mints: Some people find the scent energizing, others find it relaxing. It is primarily used as a flavor softener for infusions of more pungent herbs, but can have some definite benefits for a queasy stomach, or as a skin bath, mouthwash, and the oils soothe tired muscles and joints. Spearmint is milder than Peppermint.
Oregano: Related to Marjoram, it treats many of the same symptoms, though it appears to have greater affect on aches and fevers than the other herb. Used as an infusion, gargle, or bath.
Parsley: An excellent general source of vitamins. A salad with only 1/2 cup of parsley contains over 50% of one's daily requirements of Vitamins A & C, and is also a good source of Folate and Iron. It packs a power-punching amount of Vitamin K, so be careful. It's also an excellent breath aid, a natural anti-inflammatory, and comes free on nearly every plate of food you eat at a restaurant.
Rosemary: Taken through infusion or by just inhaling the steam, this herb can help with headaches and depression, and as a mild expectorant.
Sage: Long used for spiritual practices, medical benefits can include treatment of mouth ulcers and sore throat, best used as a rinse or gargle. It can also be beneficial in compresses for cuts and scrapes.
Thyme: My favorite culinary herb, it may be helpful in relieving depression, stomachache, and respiratory symptoms. In a tincture or rub, it can help with fungal infections.

As soon as I can track down the seeds, there will also be Borage, Chamomile, Lemon Verbena or Lemon Balm, Feverfew, Skullcap, and Valerian.

I'm really looking forward the sights, smells, and usefulness of all these wonderful plants. Even if they don't work at all, the process of studying, growing, and blending these herbs is therapeutic all on its own.

Impermanence and Living in the Future Tense

We're moving. Wait, wait. No. We're not moving, yet. We are, however, in the process and mindset of preparing our little hovel for the market, and keeping a weather eye on house prices so we can find that precious little sweet spot that allows us an easy purchase while making buckets on our own sale. It's fun, really...Getting the house all primped like it's going on a first date. Unfortunately, it sets you into a mindflow of change.

Impermanence is a concept which runs entirely contrary to most gardening philosophy. Think about it. We use words like "sustainable," "permaculture," and plant fruit trees which remain barren for two years, we build raised beds in which we intend to rotate crops over seasons to come, and so on. All of these imply a Homestead is in the bag. It assumes that we've found our niche, we've carved out our plot and are ready to dig deep and set down roots. So what happens when you're rootless?

What happens is a hell of a lot of redesign to planned garden renovations and a scramble for as many plastic containers as one can find lying around the house. Containers are portable, after all. We've switched our mentality to that of temporary landlords and now must plan our garden efforts as such.

So, today, yours truly rinsed, filled, sowed, and set out the following: 3 mixed leaf lettuce pots, 2 iceberg lettuce pots, 3 spinach pots, 4 punnets of broccoli and 2 of leek for later transplant, 2 trays of spring onion, 1 big pot of dwarf peas, and a single pot of cornflower seeds for visual appeal. Tomorrow, I'll add a couple of quick-harvest Brussels Sprouts and maybe another tidbit or two.

Aside from the container gardening madness of the day, I seem to be holding steady on my US-Seasonal-Disorder theme. First, American tax day inspired me to rework our budget. Now, American Springtime has me on a cleaning frenzy. The punchline is, I'm in Australia. But, the result has been worth it. Food is planted, accounts are in order, and my kitchen is finally a warm a beautiful place I enjoy using. Yay for False Spring Fever! I wonder how long it will last.

Bayside Creams and Easter Dreams

Perhaps it is my inborn American nature, inspired by the upcoming sacred holy time of Tax Day, but something about this time of year brings out my inner spreadsheet guru and has me thinking in terms of Compounded Interest and Adjusted Net Worth.

One might think this would lead to a detailed description of how to scrimp, save, go frugal and add to your bottom line, but alas, I'm still figuring out such things, myself. What I will happily share is the only enjoyable chore I've had over the past week, in the few hours I've spent free of the Excel spreadsheets—cooking!

In an effort to stay somewhat on theme, I present two cost-saving wonders.

The first is a deliciously decadent seafood soup that costs a mere $8.40 AUD for the entire batch. That's enough to feed four, and it's even cheaper if you grow your own veggies and herbs.

Chowder By the Bay

1 each potato, carrot, celery, diced finely
1/2 onion, chopped
1 tsp butter
1 tsp olive oil
3 tsps herb mix (thyme, oregano, marjoram, basil, rosemary, sage, bay leaf)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsps plain flour
2 cups low-salt chicken stock
1 splash red wine
1 cup milk
2 rounded tbsps Mascarpone
500g Marinara Mix (i.e. mixed seafood), divided
Salt & Pepper, to taste

Substitution: I only used Mascarpone because I was out of cream. If you have cream, switch the milk & mascarpone for 1 cup cream.

Chop vegetables into a large soup pot. Add in butter, oil (to prevent butter burning), herbs, and garlic. Stir in flour to coat all the veggies and sautee over medium-high heat until the aroma is strong, but the veggies should not brown.

Slowly pour in the chicken stock and a simple splash of wine, allowing the heat to remain consistent. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.

While the soup simmers, divide your seafood. Most "Marinara Mixes" (for Americans, this has nothing to do with red pasta sauce!) contain cooked clams or mussels, raw shrimp/prawns, chopped raw fish fillets like salmon and haddock, and cooked cuttlefish and/or squid. Divide out the fish fillets as these take a little longer to cook. Set shrimp, clams, and squid aside.

Pour milk into the soup pot and slowly stir in Mascarpone, allowing all the ingredients to meld nicely. Return to a low simmer and drop in the fish fillet chunks. Cook for only a few minutes until the flesh begins to firm. Only then, stir in remaining seafood and heat until the shrimp is just pink. Overcooking will toughen clams and squid.

Season lightly with salt & pepper, then serve hot with thick slices of your favorite bread.

Idea: Next time, I'll be planning ahead and serving these San Francisco style, in fresh, warm sourdough bread bowls. Give it a try! You'll think you're sitting right on Fisherman's Wharf.

Sweet Cross Buns

300 ml (1 1/3 cups) milk
1/4 cup sugar
2 pkgs yeast (about 14 g total)
3 tbsps butter, melted
2 eggs, lightly beaten
4 cups bread flour
1 good pinch of salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 cup dried fruit, chopped finely

Cross:
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
A few tbsps water

Glaze:
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp honey

Heat oven to 150 C (300 F). Pour some boiling water into a pie plate and set the plate on the lowest rack of the oven, with the highest rack being near middle. After 10 minutes, turn the oven off and let it rest.

Warm the milk in a saucepan or microwave to a temperature which is warm to the touch, but not hot. Whisk in sugar until deserved. Gently mix in yeast and allow to sit for 10 or so minutes, or until a creamy foam appears on top.

While the yeast is proofing, mix together flour, salt, and spices. In a small dish, soak dried fruit in warm tap water, until lightly plumped, then fold through the flour mixture. For choice of fruits, currants are common. I've used raisins, sultanas, and currants. Once your yeast has proofed, slowly stir in melted butter. Make a well in the center of your flour mixture, then add wet ingredients to dry and mix well.

On a floured surface, knead the dough until fully combined. After 8-10 minutes of kneading, the dough should be beautifully smooth and soft. Place the kneaded dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with oiled plastic wrap and place into your warmed oven. The warmth and moisture will help the dough rise. (I had one batch fail to rise with too little moisture!)

Let the dough rise for an hour, or until doubled in size. Punch the dough down gently, turn onto your floured work area and gently press into a rectangular shape. Cut dough into even squares, scissors work well, and tile across the bottom of a large, lightly oiled, baking pan. Re-cover and rise in the warm oven for another 30-45 minutes, or until again doubled in size.

In a small dish, blend together 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup confectioner's sugar with a bit of water. The goal is a medium-thick paste. Spoon into a plastic zipper bag. Snip off one bottom corner of the bag and use as a piping tool. Remove the risen buns from the oven and uncover. Pipe cross-like lines over the buns while you pre-heat the oven to 200 C / 390 F.

Put the buns in the oven (no puns!) and bake for 20-25 minutes until the whole house smells delicious and the buns are nicely browned.

In the small dish you used before, melt 1 tbsp butter and stir in 2 tbsps honey. Take the buns from the oven and then brush lightly in the honey-butter glaze. Allow to cool a bit in the pan.

Best served warm or re-heated, and eat them fast! These go stale within a couple short days, but freeze well for up to one week.

Alternative idea: Try subbing fresh or dried apple and finely chopped walnuts for the currant mix and glaze with butter and maple syrup. A yummy Autumn treat for those Down Under, celebrating Easter in the Fall.

To make French Toast: Simple as can be. Whisk up two eggs, a splash of milk, and a touch of vanilla. Cut stale hot cross buns in half, width-wise and soak in the egg bath until spongy, but still intact. Melt some butter in a large pan and fry the soaked buns, cross-side up, until golden brown. Flip, fry some more, then serve with butter and maple syrup, sprinkled confectioner's sugar (icing sugar), honey, or fruit.

La Cucina di Autunno

No season brings out my inner chef like Fall. While my warmer weather dishes drift toward the gourmet, something in the crisp chill of the autumn air, the frequency of grey, rainy days and long, clear nights inspires a deep craving for filling, richly colored dishes that no other season can bear. Two recent autumnal meals, in particular, have scratched this culinary itch.

As a side note, today's post is in hopeful honor of those recovering from the violent earthquake felt in Central Italy, today. I wish them all luck, health, and restored spirits and kitchens soon. (I apologize if my Italian is poor.)

Spaghetti di Autunno1/8 pumpkin or squash
1 medium carrot
1 medium red onion
1 1/2 cups tomatoes
1 small head broccoli
1 bunch beet greens
1 clove garlic, minced
various Italian herbs
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
salt & pepper
1/3 standard pkg spaghetti
1/3 cup parmesan, grated fresh

Preheat oven to 220 C (430 F).

Pre-chop all the veggies, slicing pumpkin (or winter squash), carrots, and red pepper (capsicum) julienne for quick roasting.

Toss together pumpkin, onions, peppers, carrots, broccoli, 1 tbsp olive oil, herbs, and garlic and roast for 20 minutes, stirring after 10.

In a large pot, boil water and prepare 1/3 packet of spaghetti, broken in half. Reserve 1/4 cup of the pasta water, drain the rest and set aside.

In the pasta pot, lightly sautee tomatoes (I used a late-season mix of heirloom green and ripe) using the remaining olive oil. Add in drained spaghetti and stir well. Finally, stir in roasted veggies and toss with grated parmesan cheese. Add salt and pepper, to taste.

Serve hot with an extra sprinkle of cheese. This is a full meal for 2-3 people.

Sweet Autumn Veggies

1 sweet potato, sliced thickly
2 medium carrots, sliced
1 ripe pear, chopped
1/3 cup walnut halves
1 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 lemon, juice only
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp thyme

Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F).

In a large mixing bowl, stir together melted butter, olive oil, and lemon juice. Toss chopped vegetables, fruit, and walnuts in the mixture until well coated.

Sprinkle in brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and thyme then toss again to spread the flavorings around.

Spread a single layer of the mixture into a large roasting pan. Roast for one hour, no stirring necessary. Grind a bit of sea salt cross the roasted veggies once they're finished cooking, and serve.

This dish is a hearty side for 2-3, or a small accompaniment for 4-6.

For a delicious Western European meal, serve this with traditionally prepared Corned Beef and some steamed and salted Brussels Sprouts.

My recipe for Corned Beef is simple. Just simmer the meat with bay leaves, a sprinkling of brown sugar, at least a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, and half an onion, chopped. Simmer about two hours for an average sized cut of corned beef brisket. A standard 2 lb/1 kg roast makes dinner-for-two and a week's worth of lunch meat.

Technical Difficulties

Silence may be golden, but it's a bit counterproductive for a blog. Sadly, I must announce the grim and violent exit of my beloved Samsung camera. She fell prey to the snarling devil beasts that are my dogs. The hubby, in his desire to allow us a bit of extra weekend shuteye, let pup and mom out of their room and let them roam. Alone. In the House. Without supervision. Destruction ensued and my camera became a light aperitif in the feast of paper, pillows, and paperbacks we awoke to find shredded upon the floor.

Soon, there will be a new camera and life will return to normal. Though, we may need a new hard drive, too, as my own decided it didn't want to wake up today. So, technical difficulties abound and I shall spend the added time outside counting the unholy crop of pumpkins we are soon to harvest.

We'll keep you posted as technology permits!

"Indian head" classic test pattern from Broadcasting 101.

Order is the Shape

"Order is the shape upon which beauty depends" - Pearl S. Buck

"Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work" - Flaubert

"Three Rules of Work: Out of clutter find simplicity; from discord find harmony; In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity" - Albert Einstein

"Few tasks are more like the torture of Sisyphus than housework, with its endless repetition: the clean becomes soiled, the soiled is made clean, over and over, day after day." - Simone de Beauvoir

"The trouble with simple living is that, though it can be joyful, rich, and creative, it isn't simple." - Doris Janzen Longacre

I have things in common with all those quoted here. Like Buck, I am a sinophile, impressed by the work ethic of the villagers. Like Flaubert, I am not easily satisfied with my creations. Like Einstein, I find my religion in the cosmos. Like de Beauvoir, I am a feminist. And like Mrs. Longacre, I find this whole simple living deal anything but simple. In fact, I find it rather draining and grump-making a lot of the time.

You see, it wasn't really an active choice to become a housewife, rather a gradual result of circumstance and happenstance and all their 'stancey brethren. But, there are wonderful things. There is cooking the food we've grown. There is baking the weekly bread. There is improving the value and beauty of our home. There are indeed many good things.

One horrible thing, one thing that drains my Chi and taps my reserves is the utter lack of structure. I'm a fan of structure, order. Expectations lead to motivation which breeds results. This is how I approach even my most creative of endeavors. In my corporate job life had an even pace. Each Thursday, a newsletter was designed. Each Friday, it was distributed. Each month, twenty-some reports were due. Each Monday, weekly web design was done. Though my work was sometimes artistic, often inspired, and regularly entirely concocted out of nothing resembling fact, there was an order to it all.

So, to save myself from the torment de Beauvoir describes, I need some order. I need a routine for the basics of household operation, garden management, and animal husbandry. Without order, this simplified life will begin to look like one very big rock up a very big hill. It's time to organize.

I've read here and there about Household Notebooks, Control Journals, and many other incarnations of the like, but I have no earthly idea which style will help me the most. So, I've started small. I've decided to set up Task Days. Though, I'm still uncertain if I'd rather assign a room per day, or a chore per day...i.e. Bathroom Day vs. Dusting & Mopping Day. It may seem insignificant, but I'm hoping that organizing the tedium will leave more time free for the things I enjoy, like reading, working on my book, going for weekend day trips, and coffee in the city.

What are your tools of the trade? Do you have Post-It Notes everywhere? Are there magnetized To Do lists covering your fridge? Have you carefully constructed a household notebook? Please! Help a girl out and share your organizational successes. Share your failures too. We all enjoy a good bit of shared struggle with our morning coffee or tea, after all. How do you all stay organized?

A Walk Through Our Garden

Some days you wake up with thousands of words just itching to spill from your fingertips, and then there are days like today. So how about a tour of what's sowin' and growin' on the Suburban Plot, instead?

Our poor, poor sisters. Some may remember the Three Sisters experiment. Well, two weeks of 45c+ temperatures sent two of our sisters running for colder climes, leaving only the pumpkin behind. Our manic rescue-watering seemed to not only save the pumpkin, but send it on a mad growth spree! Sadly, we got only a few handfuls of green beans, and no corn.

Flying in the face of all expectations, the cauliflower and cabbages have flourished in the heat. No bolting, few bugs, beautiful budding head formations. They are my pride and joy! I can't wait for a winter full of cabbage puddings and fresh, steamed cauli.

This is...The Carrot. Yes, the carrot. All seemed to be going well. Rows upon rows germinated, began to fern out, and then the heatwave struck and took all but this. We have the worst luck with carrots. This was our third attempt. We're giving it one more try but really are quite doubtful.

Now that I have a good recipe for borscht, thanks to my aunt and her collection of Polish cookbooks, these beets will be put to great use! They have done famously and we're really enjoying learning new ways to prepare the red veg. Their neighbors, the leeks, confuse me a bit. I keep wondering if the stalks will thicken more, or if I should harvest now, before planting the autumn batch.

Our peppers (capsicums) have been nearly as prolific as our bumper tomato crop, which was razed just prior to this tour. I'll show off some of the tomato makings another time. We've gotten multiple kilos of peppers which we've harvested both at red and green stages. I adore both flavors, especially raw! And they make a mean red pepper jelly (recipe forthcoming).

We're slowly converting to a semi-dug raised bed system. It just seems a more efficient way to garden, for us. Firstly, we're lazy, so it should help us keep the weeds to a minimum. Secondly, it's just a lot more attractive. We're planning to plant beets, carrots, leeks, spring onions, turnips, and swedes/rutabagas in this bed in an adapted "square foot" method, in semi-clay soil that we've amended with boatloads of purchased compost. Any advice would be welcomed!

So there you have it. The Suburban Plot in all it's early-autumnal splendor. Here's hoping the crops are tasty and the winter seeds sprout strong!

Care & Feeding of Too Many Dogs - Pt 2

The first month of Puppydom is a relative slice of mudcake when compared to the second. Before that miraculous 4th week they are nearly 100% reliant on mom for all their wants and needs. After that? It's us they need! What is sometimes a daunting task for someone dealing with only one or two dogs, was cubed for our tribe of nine. Eleven, if you count the humans. Here is how the second month unfolded:

Week 4: Foooood, glorious food! If you think one dog eats a lot, try feeding eight newly toothy puppy mouths and one ravenous weaning mama-dog. Laney was so hungry she began eating whole carrots! At this stage, the pups had tiny little razor teeth and were happy to crunch away on high-protein puppy kibble. We didn't bother with any milk substitutes or supplements. Nor did we wet their food, as they seemed to have no problem chomping and digesting the hard kibble. We let Laney wean as she liked, and her weight dropped rapidly around this time which told us to feed her more, and told her to feed them less! It was also between weeks 3 and 4 that the pups and mom were all given a store-bought worming treatment.

Week 5: Time to be a party animal. We'd been socializing the puppies since birth, really. Neighbors and children, family and friends all dropped by over the weeks to pet and gawk. But by this age, it was very important to make certain they were used to all varieties and sizes of people. Now that all the dogs were eating real food, Laney stopped cleaning up their waste and that left a lovely nightly task of room cleaning and puppy washing for my hard working hubby. The damage bill also skyrocketed around week 5. Hubby remade the guest room with scrap vinyl used to cover the saddened carpet, and fenced the pups in the best he could with old doors, plywood, etc. Their old whelping box was converted into a potty-box and some training was begun! Sometimes they'd still manage to get ahold of the wrong thing and...destruction!

Week 6: Laney had pretty much cut off the mommy buffet at this point. She still allowed the occasional comfort nursing (in fact, she still allows an occasional minute or two) but her milk began drying up and we increased the puppies food to about 4 cups of dry food per day and 500g of "dog roll". For those not in Oz, this is just pressed wet food, sold in the meat section. Canned food would suffice. As for potty training, it's nigh on impossible with eight pups. But we attempted, belatedly, the Misty Method, and it worked to some degree. If we had less pups or had begun earlier we might've had better luck. We also began giving each puppy solo-time with the humans. One or two per night would join us in the living room for individual attention.

Week 7: Advertise, advertise, advertise! Finding good homes for eight dogs is no simple task. Though these pups were so cute that they made it a little bit easier. We placed ads on free boards, pet sites, etc but got nearly all our pups adopted via a paid classified (online only, no print ad). Life pretty much continued as normal, though we increased their exercise with occasional outdoor adventures after their 2nd worming, and lots of tug-of-war using old towels and plenty chasing of tennis balls. Clean-up became all consuming of our time with hubby washing and tidying and me cleaning at least a load of towels per day.

Week 8: This is when the pups began to filter out to their new homes. Jimmy and Junior were the first to go, adopted by hubby's aunt and uncle. By far the most popular, Isca is now living contentedly by the sea, on the York Peninsula. Next went Batman and Robin to a lovely couple wanting exercise buddies. Soon after, Spot became the light of a teen girl's life. Speck was our last adoptee and she is now warming the hearts of a kind couple who lost their longtime doggy-friend, last month. We, of course, kept the best of them all! Born "Pisca" and renamed Emmy, our little gem will begin intensive training once the house is free of other doggy distractions.

The Aftermath: We had exactly eight hours between Speck's departure and Jimmy & Junior's return. Aunt and Uncle had pre-puppy travel plans and we've been playing puppysitters for the last several days. They've been re-dubbed Floyd and Ellie and are far more rambunctious than our runty little Em'. But she has held her own! We get a week-long reprieve before our second round of puppysitting and it will be nice to begin finding a flow with just our two dogs. Emmy will be getting her first shots, another worming, and lots of time outside the puppy dungeon. It will be a whole new adventure for us all!

Care & Feeding of Too Many Dogs - Pt 1

For the past three months our lives have been focused on exactly one thing. Puppies. Midwifing puppies, housing puppies, feeding puppies, cleaning puppies. Puppies! We just sent our last pup to it's new, loving home and have received reports back from owners and vets alike that, whatever we did, we did it right. I thought I'd share some details of our puppy-raising experience, stage by stage. This first part of the story covers late pregnancy through the puppies' third week.

Pre-birth: It definitely takes awhile to even realize a dog is in "the family way." There are no easy tests or methods of discovery. You just begin to notice that your dog's belly is getting fatter and fatter, and teats begin to form. Then you start praying for a rare 1-pup litter. In this stage, we made sure Laney got as much food as she could stand, boosting the protein gradually and feeding her on demand. When she began digging in the yard and sniffing around the house, hubby constructed a cardboard nesting box and lined it with towels. Some dogs prefer a quiet out-of-the-way spot, but our dog loves her people and preferred a back corner of the living room for her delivery.

Labor: We left it all up to Laney. After all, nature knows best. For the 24 hours before delivery, she spent a great deal of time pacing and panting, testing out her box and generally going bit stir crazy. Delivery began as a surprise to us both! She birthed the first while standing in the middle of the kitchen. I made certain the pup had a soft landing, then watched to make sure she accepted the puppy. She was a champ! She expertly removed the amniotic sac, cleaned off the little girl and moved her to the whelping box. Over the next ten hours, she birthed seven more little dogs. We kept the room draft-free and watched everyone closely for the next day or two. All the pups nursed well and we couldn't have asked for a more textbook delivery.

Weeks 1 & 2: This is the time to sit back, coo cutely and the little critters. There isn't much else you can do. While we busied ourselves with changing towels and keeping Laney happy, she mothered her pups like a pro. With her watchful permission, we handled the puppies daily, and gently, wanting them to be used to touch as early as possible. Laney's food at this time nearly tripled in volume, aiding in milk production and ensuring she had enough energy to deal with a litter of eight.

Week 3: It was around this time that we moved the whelping box to a spare room. Hubby fashioned a lovely, more permanent whelping box of scrap wood, which allowed Laney more room to nurse and gave us an easier cleaning strategy. I really do recommend cardboard for the birth, though. Many fluids and other slimy things are involved in any birth and it's much easier to simply toss out the original cardboard box. At the end of this third week, all eight puppies began to open their eyes.

Though it was a surprise to us, having adopted an already-pregnant dog, puppy rearing continues to be a very entertaining, rewarding, and often maddening experience. Stay tuned for the continuing saga of Puppydom when I cover weeks four through eight.

Permission to Daydream

It's strange what circumstances bring us to a state of reflection. It could be anything, really. Some people find their peace on a country stroll. Others prefer their reverie with foamed milk, two sugars and a biscotti. And still others forget about the entire concept until something reminds them that you don't require permission to daydream.

I'm a member of that last group.

It took three weeks of being "laid up," or under the weather in one way or another for me to find a single hour of meditation. Is anyone preventing me from a moment's peace? Well, perhaps the nine dogs we were raising made it difficult, but there were still hours of my day spent on mindful chores or mindless pastimes, and any one of those ours could have been spared for a chance to breathe. Today, I've found that hour, and I just want to preserve the sensory experience of it, in full.

The weather is warm today, the breeze light and I can hear the occasional chirp of our resident yellow-striped honeyeaters in the yellow-flowered tree outside. The dogs are all sleeping and, perhaps for the first waking moment since our last power failure, the television is off. A dingy white pedestal fan and an equally dingy white fridge are the only mechanical singers in the afternoon choir, and even the cars and neighbors seem to have taken the noontime off. But the smells are what really draw me in. Since morning, a pot of dried chickpeas has been simmering on the stove, exhaling a warm, breaddy aroma that has chased all trace of puppy from the room. Now, with my lunch of yesterday's homemade split pea soup joining the bouquet, my house smells of home and quiet and nourishment. The sights are few: a too-big purple couch, the breakfast dishes still in their morning spots, and a book sits splayed beside me, waiting for me to take it up once more.

I need to do this, more often. I think I need it every day. My books, though numerous, have become dusty with cobwebs of neglect in a year of movement, change, adjustment, and strain. The television, while usually present as a passive chatty friend that helps whittle the hours away, isn't anything particularly special to me. Yet, in the past year, I've rarely let it rest. It's not even the shows that interest me, nor the latest news report. It's simply the presence of voice during daylight hours that keeps the little box flicked on. But what's so bad about silence? I think it's time to rediscover a bit of it.

So, good blogaverse...if, like me, you too have forgotten sounds beyond digital, or your reading has dissolved into nothing but a domino chase of blogs and articles, try to remember that not one of us needs permission to daydream. In truth, we should be asking ourselves forgiveness for putting it off.

Nature, Harmony, and When There's None

Bleak. Stark. Still. We'd heard the stories and should've known, what with For Sale signs declaring the area's decline, that our drive through the towns of the Lower Murray would dampen the mood of our day.

Imagine you've based your life on a river. You fish for food and profit, you provide riverboats and tours for visitors. You do what your parents did, and their parents. You farm, live, exist on the river. Now, imagine a course of five years when the rains stop falling, irrigation channels are built, and the water slowly drains from your town like someone pulled the plug from the tub. This is what has happened in South Australian towns like Goolwa and the island of Hindmarsh.

A mixture of epic drought and urban water use has left the lower Murray, nearest it's mouth, with nothing but a small trickle of water. Boats sit neglected, run aground for more than a year, and tourism-centered main streets are left quiet, vacant.

I'd heard of this situation countless times on the news as some river-dwellers lobby for an injection of sea water into their basin, just to get the fishing boats afloat, and others still fight against the influx to avoid poisoning the fresh and brackish drizzle of water remaining with high-salt oceanic flow. It's another thing, entirely, to see it up close. To walk on what should have been covered three meters deep in brown-green currents.

Thanks to water locks and dams, the middle and upper Murray aren't suffering the same fate. Even other South Aussie spots, such as Renmark, are thriving on deep waters, their businesses taking up the tourist slack from the loss further south. But, as long as other states continue to drain the bulk of flow for their own use, the Murray's end will continue to become little more than a creek.

I wish there was a way, in our own homes, to contribute to the health of the Lower Murray, but it lies in the hands of politicians. This, of course, means it lies in the hands of registered voters. Follow your conscience. Even if you benefit from the re-routing of Murray waters, perhaps you can see clear to helping those who are suffering.

Climate and urban development have not been kind to Australia in the past few years. As I type this, hundreds of people are wading in knee-deep waters just to walk across their living room, submerged in the Queensland floods. Closer to home, tens of thousands of acres of Victorian and New South Wales homes, farms, and bushland are burning. And in our own back yard, there was an unbelievable life toll in the recent heat wave of more than a week above 40 C (104 F).

If the river's cause is not your cup of tea, then see if you can lend a hand to those surviving this impossible time, all during such an impossible economy. If you can't afford a financial donation, people in Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, and New South Wales are in need of many forms of assistance. Old air conditioners for heatwave sufferers, blood donations for fire victims, and gifts of food, clothing, books, and toys for both the flood and fire survivors. Below are a few links I've found of ways to help. If you know of others, please share them in comments.

For those worldwide, keep Australia in your thoughts.

Save the Murray, Red Cross Bushfire Relief Fund, Salvation Army Bushfire and Flood Relief Appeal, South Australian State Emergency Service, SA Drought Link

One Hot, One Cold

When Autumn and Spring drift into these Australian lands, I can share recipes to my heart's delight, as the weather of both northern and southern hemispheres is similar. But, in these simmering summer months, I find it hard to get in the sharing spirit, knowing only half of my friends can relate. So, here's the solution. One hot and one cold! I hope you enjoy these treats. They keep me and mine comforted in the winter and refreshed on a summer's morn.

Sweet Honeyed Cornbread

3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup honey
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup milk
1 cup water
2 cups cornmeal (or fine polenta, for the Aussies)
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 190 C (375 F).

Crack eggs into a large bowl, whisking gently, then add butter, sugar, and honey. Cream together these ingredients then slowly add in milk and water.

In a separate bowl, sift together cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt.

Add dry to wet, mixing until just combined as over-mixing will toughen your bread. Pour into a lightly greased pan.

Bake for 40 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out virtually clean. Cool for 5 minutes, slice and serve warm.

This is great served with green beans and potatoes, cooked with ham hock. Also excellent with chili or stew. I'll have to include some of those recipes at a later date.

Dried Delights Granola

4 cups rolled or steel-cut oats
1 cup wheat germ
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup crushed or sliced nuts (I like almonds and walnuts!)
1 cup dried fruit (raisins/sultanas, dried cranberry, chopped dates*)
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup canola oil
3 tbsp water

Preheat oven to a very low heat, around 150 C (300 F)

Mix together the oats, wheat germ, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and nuts and set aside.

In a small pan, stir together honey, oil, and water. Heat until simmering. You can also do this, carefully, in the microwave. Just don't look away for too long!

Stir the hot syrup into your dry mixture, making certain all ingredients are very well combined. Grease two large, rectangular baking pans or cookie sheets and spread the moistened mixture evenly between them.

Bake for 30 minutes, occasionally stirring the granola to achieve equal browning.

After 30 minutes, add in any dried fruit you're including (*except for dates! These harden too much in the oven and should only be added in after the mix has baked and cooled). Bake for an additional 30 minutes or until the granola is golden brown.

Cool on trays, undisturbed. Once the granola is cool, gently break apart with a wooden spoon to create small clusters.

Place your freshly made granola into an air-tight container and enjoy for the next two or three weeks!

Recipe makes roughly 2 litres or 2 quarts, and is delicious as a breakfast cereal, or layered on top of yogurt with berries or chopped fruit on top.

10 Ways to Hike Up Your Homestead

The Realm of Home Improvement is a special level of hell reserved for masochists and wide eyed dreamers. You fix and change, renovate and re-do, and you always find more waiting on the horizon. But my, how we love it! The scent of sawdust is a near aphrodisiac and nothing beats the instant gratification of a splotched, hopeless wall suddenly gleaming to life with fresh paint.

If, like us, you have some outstanding credit card debt, or perhaps a devil-loan that seemed a good idea at the time, a few small upgrades to your home can raise the value and boost your budget more than even years of gardening and preserving. With even less done than the suggestions in this post, we increased our property value by over 30%, inspite of slow home sales and falling prices, from our last valuation two years ago. The subsequent equity line paid off 86% of our high-interest debt and gave us a financial buffer to get us through any unforeseen hard times.

1. Paint it Red: Okay, maybe not red, but a fresh coat of paint can't be beat for bringing new life to tired walls. Strip off that 70's wallpaper and add some neutral favorites, but don't be afraid of a splash of color! A red wall in a bright room can be a beautiful touch. If you work in a trade, see if the boss will let you keep paint leftovers, or try to mix a few colors from previous home paint jobs. Just make sure the bases are compatible! No free paint? $40-50 for a quality can of your favorite hue will make a world of difference.

2. From the Floor Up: With a little money and a bit of time, you can update your floors to their previous farmhouse splendor. It may not go perfectly—We met with un-aged wood in stripes beneath sticky carpet adhesive—but even a slightly splotchy wood floor outranks an aging carpet or, heaven forbid, dated vinyl. You'll need a hired sander, an edging sander, sandpaper (in grits of 40, 80, and 100 or 120), spirits for clean-up, and a stain/sealant of your choosing. All totalled, the investment is around $200 for two midsized rooms and a hallway.

3. Kitchen Re-Do: Kitchens and bathrooms make up, perhaps, the largest segment of a home's sale value. They are the rooms we rely on for our most basic of needs and we like 'em pretty! Unless you are blessed with original wood cabinetry and shiny Wolf ovens, you might want to kick up the kitchen with a little bit of work and very little money. Plan ahead and find a friend who is re-doing their own better-than-yours kitchen. Offer to take the old stuff off their hands! You may have to make some adjustments, and you'll likely have to put off your new kitchen awhile as you hunt for the friend in question, but it will save you hundreds and earn you thousands in equity.

4. Organization is Key: A few well placed shelves, as well as orderly, clean appliances, tidy nick-knack displays, and removal of all yard debris will give the heads up to any appraiser that this home is well maintained. It also can't hurt your own personal peace of mind. Check out flea markets, op shops, and yard sales for secondhand shelving solutions, or build your own! Speaking of yard sales, why not have one? You'll clear the unneeded clutter and make some spare renovation funds along the way.

5. Garden Quick Fix: Mow the lawns, water as much as you're able, and then trim, trim, trim, shaving those hedges, trees, and roses into clean shapes. Rip out old, clunky or unruly plants, replace with potted color, such as pansies, or decorative grasses for hotter climes, or edible beauties like red cabbages, berry bushes, and curly lettuce. "Re-purpose" your bulbs from hidden nooks of the garden to simple driveway borders and garden wall liners. Put a fresh layer of mulch on everything, and weed those veggie beds. Remember, the goal is to have a clean garden that is attractive and appears low-maintenance, even if you know better.

6. Space it Out: One might think furnishings have nought to do with house value. This couldn't be further from the truth! While it's fact that your favorite sofa will never be packaged in a sale price, the location of that sofa can change everything. We Plotters are the (not so) proud owners of a huge L-shaped purple, overstuffed, micro-suede sofa. This monster used to sit with one end protruding into the dining area. A bit of effort in moving it to the opposite corner and it's a whole new room! Visually, the floorspace is doubled. So get to rearranging! Even if you change it back after the inspection is done.

7. Cleanliness and Godliness: I've no doubt that the majority of 'steaders out there keep a lovely house, but one final wipe-down can do wonders for perception. Wash the front windows, give the floors a shine with a bit of oil and lemon, scrub the sinks until they gleam using baking soda and muscle, and don't forget the baseboards and corner cobwebs too. It brightens the whole place, and light is a big factor in the value of your space.

8. Community Investment: Your house is well squared away but the neighborhood leaves a bit to be desired. This, unfortunately, affects everyone's property value. So, if your neighbor has a worn out yard, or clearly didn't make it past "Go" on their last clean-up day, offer to lend a hand. This is a good idea for any reason, but it will only serve to boost your appraisal when the bank (wo)man comes a-callin'.

9. Mother Nature Knows Best: In a hot climate? Don't schedule that valuation for the dry, dead season. Same goes for the winter-woes. Make Mother Nature work for you and try to squeeze in those appraisals while your yard is at it's best. We Plotters narrowly escaped drought disaster, having our valuation only weeks before the current record-smashing heatwave. The appraiser would've been met with wilted vines and shriveled shrubs instead of a lovely, green yard.

10. Common Scents: The nose is our most aware and evocative sensory tool. Your valuer isn't immune! Schedule your weekly bread-bake for the hours before inspection, or just simmer up a pot of spiced water on the stove. Aromas such as baked goods and warm cinnamon are known to inspire thoughts of hearth and home.

You only get 10-20 minutes of the bank valuer's time. Make the biggest impact you can! But please do your research before trekking this path. Housing prices have suffered only somewhat in Australia, but greatly in the Northern lands (US, UK) so know your neighborhood. Look at comparable houses that are actually selling, talk to your mortgage broker, and get ideas from friends. We all have learned our lessons and know debt-free is the way to be. I hope these tips help you on the road to freedom.

An Abundance of Life

It's hot. No, that's not right. It's blisteringly hot. Yes, that nearly covers it. With "vacation" winding to a close on the Suburban Plot, we find ourselves in the belly of a record-breaking beast of a heatwave. In just the past two days we've scaled thermal heights I thought impossible outside of Death Valley, seeing temperatures of 122 F (50 C) in sunshine, 113 F (45 C) in the shade. Oh yes, it's hot. But, though life may struggle in the heat, it does not vanish or even pause for very long.

In the weeks since New Year's, despite our efforts to avoid all forms of work or change, we've been repeatedly visited by the all powerful Fairy of All Things Living. She has beaten us over the head with her magic stick of Lots-n-Lots, and we've surrendered to her will.

The first thwack of the fairy's wand came on January 9th when our beloved kelpie-cross dog, Laney, began panting and scratching, plodding and pacing, and gave birth to her litter of unexpected puppies. Hubby and I had placed bets on the date and size of delivery many times in the days following Christmas, but all such things come in their own time (and number). The husband was banking on three, possibly four pups. I put my money closer to seven. Neither of us had any notion that we'd soon be playing host to eight little wrinkly balls of canine cuteness. But, out they came, and our evenings have never been more amusing.

The little fluffballs, now three weeks old, are smelly, and noisy, and pee on just about anything, but then they lick your chin or roll over for a bit of belly scratching, and all is forgiven. We have five weeks more with seven of these eight critters (we're keeping one), and I'm positive it will be a laughter-filled adventure.

One might think adding eight living creatures to our home might be enough to appease the Abundance Fairy, but no! She came back for a second swat just days after the puppies breathed their first. She brought with her a staggering near 13 kilos (28 pounds) of apricots. Our huge, ancient "Plum-ricot" grafted tree, for the first time in hubby's recollection of his five years here, burst forth with enough fruit to keep us well stocked for over a year.

But, wait—There's more! Unsatisfied with my hours of jam stirring, chopping, blanching and packaging, that crafty fairy thought it great fun to toss in over 22 kilos (49 pounds) of tomatoes! So, it was onto evenings spent with the husband, dicing tomatoes for jar upon jar of fresh red, green, and black beauties, and some of the best marinara sauce I've ever made.

Content with what small respite we've enjoyed since the holidays, the deluge of home-and-garden goodness has prompted my enthusiastic return to the blogosphere and all the wonderful people she holds. The next few posts will delve into the dirty details of all we've done in our month off from home improvement and online interactions. I'll be posting photos of the finished (and semi-finished) rooms of our house, recipes for our recently harvested produce, a view into our new, lighter summer breakfast, and how we're managing to keep our garden alive through such murderous heat.

The bread dough is calling for a punch and knead, so that is the end, for today. I do hope you'll rejoin our journey and continue to share yours as well. Oh, and Margo? I haven't forgotten you, and will happily post my Honey Cornbread recipe in the next couple days.

Hazy Crazy Holidays of Summer

Christmas and Hanukkah have passed us by, expanded waistlines and shredded piles of spent gift wrap have been left in their wake. Tonight, the eve of the new year, will conclude my first holiday season in the land down under.

It's been a busy season, jam packed with home project mania and brief forays into the real world for family dinners and shopping trips, but all went beautifully well, in spite of the 33 degree (that's 90+ Fahrenheit) temperatures. Even our garden, chocked full of tender seedlings, weathered the miniature heatwave well. We were so pleased!

Christmas and Boxing Day, themselves, were delightful and filled with more food than anyone should eat in a lifetime. The City Mouse will have to resume her health regime in earnest, post-renovations, to recapture a smidge of lost weight gained over the festivals of food. We did have one adorable companion over Christmas lunch in the form of a fuzzy little Koala, curled up in the cradle of a gum tree just a few steps from our outdoor locale. It was a beautiful sight.

The barrage of home improvements still dominates our every waking moment, but the end is drawing near. Today we pick up a handy-dandy floor sander and begin the process of refinishing our floors. It's daunting, as there are layers of thick, black goo across some of the flooring, but we hold faith that all will glow a beautiful, piny hue when we are done. This new phase of our mad dash toward increased home value means that we will be taking full advantage of the outdoors, this week, with plans to camp out Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, allowing our floors to dry.

Some of the first real harvest has come in from the garden, lending itself to our delicious dinner of green beans and potatoes cooked with ham hock. How else could one serve such a southern treat than with sweet honey cornbread and big glasses of minted iced tea? It was delightful!

During our backyard camp fest, we intend to use up some of the early tomatoes, a few more beans, and hopefully a green pepper or two. I think what I'm looking forward to, most of all, is a camp breakfast of stewed, fresh apricots from our tree. One sunset colored beauty found its way into yesterday's snack time and the harvest promises to be sweetly perfect.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the thoughtful array of gifts we received, this fine holiday, with American treats sent from home, fabulous project books for the hubby and a Ball Home Preserving superbook for yours truly. There were vacuums and shoes, gift cards, seedlings, and bakeware, plus some lovely donations toward our future rainwater tank.

Our own gifts to the relatives were made on a shoestring, consisting mostly of photographs the hubby and I have taken over the last year, packaged for friends and family in envelopes decorated with scrapbooking supplies and sent with much love. Hopefully next year we will be enjoying our holiday in cooler American climes, instead of taking a dip in the pool. Though a good swim is never a bad thing!

Perhaps the biggest gift has come wrapped in another gift all its own. Our present to each other was, of course, our beautiful pup, Laney. But she too had a bit of giving to do and just three weeks after her adoption, she decided to let us in on a bit of a secret. She's pregnant! Yep, that's right. We adopted ourselves a pregnant dog. We estimate her to be in week seven with two to go until these new little critters join our family. We will be keeping one pup and giving the rest away. An inconvenient gift, but one we are growing to love.

For now, we are off for a day of pulling up carpets and sanding down floors. It will be several days before we have net access again, and "vacation" begins January 6th. From that date on, this suburban plotter will be gleefully returning to frequent updates and big news of harvests and kitchen doings. Until then, be well and happy and enjoy your New Year!

Comforts, Chaos, and Serendipity in a Can

The mania of remodeling, renewing, and refurbishing continues on the Suburban Plot, holidays notwithstanding. The stack of dramatic before-and-afters piles higher with every day and, still, the To Do List remains chocked full of fun for the whole family.

There was a fair bit of good fortune involved in this weekend's tasks. You see, more than six months ago, even before our wedding, the husband and I chose a medley of colors for the kitchen-dining-living wing of our little house. Each room bleeds into the next, so we were particularly mindful of the visual harmony of all three paints. For half a year those paint chips have remained taped to our dining room wall, never forgotten but financially out of reach, for paint seems an absolute luxury when one is budgeting for sufficient groceries.

Then a miracle occurred. A genuine miracle of interior design. An intervention of divine decoration! When mixed in proper proportions, two spare cans of paint, one left over from hubby's workplace, another the bare remainders of our hallway work last fall, these two colors blended to a nearly perfect match of our little golden kitchen paint chip! And thus, Kitchen Phase 2 was begun.

I swear, if we get much luckier, I might collapse. The To Do List has become our holy book, its happy little ticky-marks our mitzvahs and commandments done well, its unchecked items our sins and transgressions. Oh yes...we know when we're licked. We are resigned to two more weeks of slavish work and keep only the hopeful results of home inspection and the promised month of break from any home improvement as our beacons of salvation off in the distance.

Amidst the plaster dust and paint fumes, a girl sometimes finds herself in need of the comforts of quieter times gone by, and the City Mouse had a serious hankering for a big, steamy bowl of Chicken and Dumplins. That gooey southern dish just can't be beat for full-on innards-warming grub that lands in the tummy like a load of bricks.

I've struggled, since my immigration, with duplicating the chemical goodness of the Bisquick dumpling and came a step closer, Saturday night, with a baking soda biscuit recipe, homemade chicken stock, and some boneless thigh meat. I still need to find a way to make the dumplings a little less dense and a smidge more breaddy. Experimentation will win out!

But for now, this home renovator must obey her paint can masters and return to the brush for another day of first and second coats, and yet another "after shot" for the stack. I apologize for the delay between posts but, as you can tell, time is a precious commodity these days. Soon, your daily updates will return!