7/30/10 - WE CELEBRATE 10 YEARS OF WEDDING BLISS!

Well, its not actually our wedding anniversary - that would be next week August 5th, but Maddie and i are going to Lollapaloosa in Chicago and are leaving on the 5th.  So i thought i might be a nice wife and plan a weekend away with my husband to celebrate our 10th anniversary. We planned our trip to Lanesboro, a quiet place with no stoplights or franchises (my kinda town). Lanesboro is the premier Arts and Culture Destination of the Midwest nestled in the Bluffs of the Root River Valley. It also has the Root River State Bike Trail, winding 60 miles through Bluff Country, it runs along towering limestone bluffs, dense hardwood forests and peaceful small towns.

We stayed at the A Guest Hus Motel, a cute little converted home just about a half mile from downtown.

  We visited the Commonweal Theatre, which was redone last year i believe, into this fantastic building with great artwork.  We also were very impressed that all the small businesses, including restaurants, all served, or sold local products.  Way to go, Lanesboro!


We also took a nice long canoe trip down the Root River and were outfitted by Root River Outfitters (sounds a bit redundant).  That was great fun!  Although not a treacherous river, it was nice to canoe again, it had been several years.


And before we headed on home that Sunday, we stopped by Niagara Caves in Harmony.
According to the brochure:
 "Niagara Cave is one of the most fascinating and unique geological attractions in the United States. During the one-hour guided tour, visitors will witness a waterfall, nearly 60 feet high, stalactites both delicate and massive, calcite flowstone, fossils that have been dated to over 400 million years old, and a wedding chapel in which over 400 weddings have been performed, plus much more."

Its dark in dem darn caves! I look scared!

It was nice down time to spend with my love.  I am so happy I met you over 11 years ago, Bob.  We have created the most amazing life together. 


Well, actually, i knew we were different. 

We didn't want a perfect life, a typical life, or even a normal life.

We wanted a one-of-a-kind life. I think we got it!

9/5/10 - MADISON GETS HER FIRST CAR

Its been about a month since Maddie got her driver's license, but with the entire month of August a big blur, we never did have the chance to go test drive this car she's had her eye on for a whole year: A neon aqua green Geo Tracker.  She spotted it last year about this time at a local horse show at Westwind Acres.  The owner of the farm had a for sale sign on it and we asked her about the car.  She said she was thinking of selling it but then again was thinking she might not, but wants to keep it for a little while.  She just couldn't handle that it didn't have air conditioning in it and she had all these hot flashes, it wasn't a good combination but she loved the car.  Well, we told her it wouldn't be for another year that we would be driving it, and she agreed to have us contact her in a year and she would probably be ready to sell it.

Well a year has passed, we went and test drove it, it's a smooth ride!  With a new battery installed, moon roof opened, and driver's license in hand.... off she went, never to be taken for a ride again!

Doesn't it just scream - Madison!?!

MAKIN' CHEESE

Now that we have more milk then i can handle, i have begun making cheese again.  When we first got Ezzy and she gave birth to two beautiful doe kids, i was amazed at how much milk she gave.  And i knew nothing about milking goats then.  But Ezzy gave me a gallon a day then and now she is close to that again.  I should have kept better records because the The Dairy Goat Association might want to hear of this amazing goat!  She could win prizes!

Start with two gallons of milk.

Heat milk, add rennet and culture, when curds are set, put in mold.

After mold is removed, soak in brine for 4 days.

Wax the cheese.  Store for at least 5 months.
I also realized its difficult to take a picture while waxing a cheese round at the same time.

This is the making of some nice Gouda, i hope.  I will let you know in about 5 months when it has finished aging.

8/5/10 - LOLLAPALOOSA!

Yes, i am the greatest mom ever!  I took my 16 year old daughter to the Lollapaloosa concert in Grant Park in Chicago.  That means sitting in the hot sun for 12 hours a day for 3 days long, listening to bands you never heard of and paying exorbitant prices for food!  Yes, it was a really good time! We stayed in the really swank Hotel Allegro, only really got to see it for a few hours a day, but it was sweet! And the view from the ground is quite interesting.  Some people actually notice you sitting there, others don't.  But we got to hear Green Day and Lady Gaga.  And saw a lot of really great shoes!

Lady Gaga herself!

The view from the ground is interesting.

Green Day!

TODAY: SLOTH

You hear about this Tryptophan:

Tryptophan is an amino acid found in turkey and other foods that helps the body produce niacin, a B-Vitamin, which helps produce serotonin, which makes you sleepy.

But is it really true?  Because honestly, turkey is not the only thing on my plate at Thanksgiving!  I've got a load of other stuff, such as potatoes, bread, cranberries, sweet potatoes, broccoli, green bean casserole.  I think its all a lie, and honestly its because we eat like there is no tomorrow or that we will starve, that we stuff ourselves and get tired.  Well, whatever happened yesterday, my wonderful husband said he would get up and do the cores in the morning.  I said, "really?"  and totally took advantage of it!  I slept til 11 am!  and it was awesome!  I love the day after Thanksgiving and Christmas because this is what i do: I sloth!  Like a sloth, like a slug, I sit all day and do nothing.

Now you insane, crazy people that get up early and go shopping on what America has deemed "Black Friday" are just victims of the media, and all i can do is feel sorry for you.  (and there is a reason for the term 'black' its usually associated with evil!) You are missing out on something that is worth way more then any $10 savings on a sweater that nobody really wants anyway!  And MY TIME, MY SANITY, MY HEALTH is WAY more important and valuable then waking up early (first mistake), being pushed around in crowds (second mistake), and hoping to get a good bargain (third mistake).  Not only are these not bargains, they are just a bait and switch to get you to spend more money in their stores.  Really, who needs or wants an electronic checkbook?  Who uses a check book any more anyway?  Or a cuddle up? Or a slapchop? Holidays are not about giving, they are about receiving; receiving the love of family, and friends and being together, being grateful.  I don't need another small item that takes up a spot in the bathroom and that in reality just turns out to be another thing i have to clean or dust.  I don't need another way to make waffles, or another way to prepare a cup of coffee, or another pair of slippers. I just want to be with you and around you, sharing your life and experiences.

So if anybody asks:  this year the only thing i want for Christmas is you! That's what all my animals say daily:  I just want to be with you.

By the way, turkey actually contains the lowest levels of Tryptophan.  Scallops contain the most.  So maybe next year I will serve scallops for Thanksgiving, then have a real excuse for my sloth-iness.

11/25/10 - THANKSGIVING DAY

tIts turkey day! Another silly holiday where families get together because they feel they have to, they eat WAY too much food, maybe even fight, and then pass out on the couch or watch football games or something like that.  Seems to me to be the epitome of American sloth and gluttony! Never been something very special to me, although since the year we arrived here, knowing that many people think of it as a holiday that is seeped in tradition, and honored by families, we offered up our home to students, friends or others that were orphaned for the day.  Those that had no family near by or that didn't necessarily want to be around them.

Here in our house, we set up the table all fancy with my finest china (not really - its a set of dishes from Kmart i got years ago) that i only bring out on Thanksgiving day; my mothers old chest of fancy silverware, and the goblets reserved for this day too. They all have a home located up in the top of the cabinet in the kitchen. They sit there for 364 days a year, wasting space and getting dusty.

Then we prepare a meal fit for a thousand, share in a toast of good cheer, and be grateful for having such wonderful friends and companions.  Each year, in leu of grace, we go around the table and say at least one thing that we are grateful for. One year, Madison said, "Clean underwear."  Honestly, that is something one should really be grateful for on a daily basis.

This year, we had a small gathering, just me, Bob, Madison and our friend Justin.  We made a smaller version of a turkey, and all the fixin's.  Then we watched the Jody Foster directed movie, Home for the Holidays starring Holly Hunter and Morton Downey Jr. I forgot how funny that movie really is!

Sam and her boyfriend, Mike, came by later after her two visits to her boyfriend's family's houses and had pie with us.

It was a beautiful day and perfectly small.  No gluttony or sloth.

11/23/10 - AN EXPERIENCE TO REMEMBER

I was hired to teach an on-line class for Rochester Community and Technical College this fall called Equine Therapy Concepts. This class covers all types of therapy utilizing horses such as Hippotherapy, Riding for the Handicapped, and Equine Assisted Learning and Psychotherapy.  Since I received my masters in the field of Human Development and Equine Assisted Life Coaching, the head of the Equine Science department thought i might know a little about the subject.  Well, I guess that useless master's Degree has finally come in handy!

Part of the class requirements, since it is an on-line class was service learning - learning by volunteering at local therapy site/s in the area for a minimum of 10 hours.  This allows them the hands-on experience that is so important in the comprehension of this work.  However, one can talk Equine Assisted Learning (EAL) or Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) to death and no one can comprehend the work until they experience it first hand.  Well, recently i met up with another person in this unique field, Ray Anschel from On Track For Life (www.ontrackforlife.com), and started a conversation.  Turns out, he has been helping another local woman, Kit Muellner, of Hope Ranch (www.hoperanchteam.com) who is a licensed social worker, and has been doing this work for years. They have been setting up 'mock' clients recently to teach her intern about the work and getting the experience.  This girl is also an equine science major at the college.  Well a few of my students and i went to her barn on Tuesday night to experience EAP.  All in all it turned out that I had the opportunity to help my students get a better understanding of the work and in turn helped another student get the experience she needed for her internship.  All with just the start of showing up for a demo at another friends house!  The fate of the universe!

We are planning on talking soon, that maybe we can make this a part of the Equine Science program at the college.

If you want to learn more about this incredible work that i have the pleasure of doing, please check out these sites:

http://www.equineguidededucation.org/
http://www.taoofequus.com/
http://www.okcorralseries.com/
http://adventuresinawareness.net/
http://www.eahae.org/
http://www.e3assoc.org/
http://www.eagala.org/

ITS A FLOOD - AND ITS ALL THE GOATS FAULT!

Yesterday morning was the coldest of all the mornings since autumn arrived - 13 degrees! Brrrrrr! and yuck!  I didn't realize this of course until I was heading out to the goat barn to milk and realized it would have better if i had put my long johns on.  They really come in handy in the farmin' business. But as i entered the goat barn i heard that infamous rushing of water that i have heard so many times before.  I shake my head, open the barn door to the dry lot and of course (insert long sigh here), someone had pulled the plug off the water fount. Again.  For years i have thought and blamed it on Max, our playful Palomino horse, but he has been vindicated as i caught one of the baby goats nipping at the plug the other week. Perhaps when they weren't here, it was Max, but I have no proof, only circumstantial evidence. It must of been off for quite along time, as ice had formed around the opening and a large pond had been formed on the low end of the dry lot.  Perhaps they wanted to go for swim before winter arrived, and decided since they were locked up behind fences that this was the only way.

Sorry, cell phone was all I had on me!

LIVE IN THE BARN ~ THE MAIRTIN DE COGAIN PROJECT

 Sunday, December 5 · 4:00pm - 7:00pm

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Location The Barn Bar at The Sanborn Sanctuary

8002 11th Ave NW

Rochester, MN

 DO NOT MISS THIS BARN BAR CONCERT!

The Mairtin De Cogain Project CD release party "From Cork To Love"



http://mairtinmusic.com/



Party starts at 4 pm , music at 5 pm



BYOB and a dish to pass

bring a friend, bring a stranger



Donations will be collected



Dianna Parks, Roger Nelson and Bob Sanborn will open with their 'Songwriters In The Round' performance

I WENT UNPLUGGED - AND I LIKED IT!

It happened - a complete week, all 7 days, all 168 hours - without a computer!  (well except for the two times i checked email for the online class i teach - part of the job, really). Yes, it worked.  i actually enjoyed it, became friends with myself, got stuff done and i didn't die!  As my friend responded when i put on Facebook that i was back and felt rejuvenated she said, and i quote,

 "i would rather die, but i'm glad you had a good experience. :) ok maybe not DIE, but unless i have some pretty reinforcing things to replace my technology, i probably would die." 


Scary, right?  no offense my friend, but honestly technology is in no way everything.  


So what did i do with all this "free time?"  I:

• played ball with my puppy
• set up my office
• took a nap
• read a book
• cleaned my kitchen
• took my camera for a field trip
• put the spring on the barn door (been wanting to do that for years)
• made cheese
• made lots of soup
• trimmed the goats hooves and gave the babies their shots
• cooked dinner - a lot
• went to the movies
• wrote in my journal
• went through all the old pictures (yes - prints!) and picked out some favs to put on the blog
• played my guitar
• talked with friends

Overall it was a perfect week off!  Can't wait to try do again. 

What if it was your downtime, your lounging-in-bed-too-long time, your walkabout time, and your blow-Friday-off time that made possible your greatest achievements?
Would they still make you feel guilty? Or would you allow yourself to enjoy them?
 
After all - life is too short to be sitting in front of a computer all day, every day.  There is this thing called the outdoors that needs exploring.

The Amazing Feat: NO Computer or Cell Phone for 7 Full Days! Can She Do It????

yes, the snow has arrived, well a little anyway.  But honestly - its November!  And the entire month of October and these two weeks in November have been the best weather i think, since we moved here 7 years ago!  It was beautifully warm - 70's most days- i have no complaints about this fall.

 But i still am not ready.  I have a long list of things to get done:  put up the snow fence for the hens, put the spring on the barn door, give the goats their shots and trim their hooves (way overdue for that), and the list goes on.  So i decided that this was not going to be finished unless i got my sh#% together and i decided to eliminate the computer and cell phone from my nimble fingers, my mind, and my life for a entire week!  yes, this can be done!  I certainly got a lot of "likes" on my Facebook page when i announced that last week! Yes, I will be away from my computer,  but i will be setting up my new office, cleaning the house; all those things that have not been done, or put off because i had too much work to get done elsewhere. I have faith that i can do this however it is now 9 pm the day before this amazing feat was scheduled to begin, i am rushing to get all these things done on the computer before the midnight deadline.  So here i am, typing away, announcing my amazing feat to the world, but i am filled with this strange feeling that i will not be able to prep for class, get the new website done, and upload the pictures of Laura & Jordan's wedding on it, by midnight!  The clock is mocking me: tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.....But maybe i can.  How the hell am I gonna pull this off i don't know, seeing as 90% of my work lately is on the computer.


Anyway -- have no fear, my friends!  I will be blogging away this week, because i will not be on the computer, i will actually be doing this the old fashioned way:  I will be WRITING, with INK, on PAPER, and remembering things that happened and thinking of all those other events and animal stories i have to share.  I thought of some of the amazing people we met over the last 7 years, and the things we have done, and i must get it down on paper. I will share all these with you next week.

And if you are worried about this, thinking, "Gosh!  What will she do with her time?"  Really?  I mean, Really?  I might actually read a book!  Or actually spend some down time with myself, my farm or take my camera on a trip.  A vision quest sans technology! Sounds like i will have MORE then enough to do.  And its ALL Amazing!

BoBo guts everywhere!

Meet Edy!  She came here oh, about a month or so ago.  And I have had to search for my shoes in the back yard every morning since.  A Border Collie, she is.  Smart they claim, however i think mine was the last in line for brains and got the short end of the neocortex stick, so to speak.  She's definitely all puppy though!  And she actually fetches!  Which is a strange concept for us as dog owners, or should i say - Basset Hound owners - because no Basset Hound fetches.  They just look at you after you throw it and think to themselves, "Really, if you are gonna go so far as to pitch my ball across the room, you may as well go get it your self."  Why waste precious energy is there motto.  Save it for important things like barking at the jogger going by the house, or that UPS man. I don't know what it is about men in brown uniforms but they hate them with great passion and verve.  He may be dangerous after all.  The trick though is to bring meat.  If you have meat, a Basset will immediately become your life long friend and go with you anywhere.  This is why Bassets do not make good guard dogs, watch dogs yes, but guard dogs, no.  They would leave home with the thief if presented with a large hunk of pork product.

See how the Bassets can stay REALLY still.

Zoom!  See the bassets never moved and inch!

BoBo Guts!

Now, Edy, she's something else.   A puppy?  what was i thinking!  They need to be taught stuff like not to jump on people and not to lick faces.  And a Border Collie does best when having a'job' to do, that's what i read anyway.  So her 'job' is to go with when i milk the goats.  She is responsible for sitting there watching me while i milk, and her favorite part of the job is take the used baby wipes (i use them to wipe the goats teats off before milking) and to shred them into tiny, little pieces.  Just like the BoBo.  And the other toys. There is something amazingly interesting about stuffing to a dog.  Well to this dog, not the Bassets.  They never tore up the toys, or even really looked at them, so we had a lot for Edy to work with when she got here.  Training?  Well, i thought to myself, "what the heck was i thinking taking in another dog, that needed training?" (it was a favor for a friend who couldn't keep her anymore)  But then i was gently reminded that i have broken several horses to ride and if i can train a horse i could certainly train a dog!  I mean training a Basset is like teaching a cat to use a litter box, just show them once and they now what to do.  Edy however is a little more complicated.  But she's coming along.  She just needs some time and a little love, we have the love, time however...that's another story.......

And remember: never leave anything unattended

"He has really big nuts!"

So the other night when we where filming Barn Bar, Bob come up to me and hands me a wad of cash and says, "I completed the goat transaction."  What?  "The guy, he came and got the goat."  What?  "The goat, the little buck, the guy came and picked him up."  I have no idea what you are talking about!  "Well the guy handed me the money, grabbed the goat and as he was heading down the driveway, exclaimed 'He has really big nuts!' He said it proudly as he pranced down the driveway, carrying the goat in his arms. And to know that those big nuts were a part of our breeding program, made me proud."

So this story all began about July after i put an ad on Craigslist.  Young Buck available. Can be registered. Well my only problem was the gentleman who ended up wanting to buy him, really wanted him registered.  So i thought to myself, 'oh, my! the long phone conversation with the Dairy Goat Association, trying to figure out if i registered the mom, cuz i can't find the registration papers and can't remember from, what 4 years ago? if i actually did register her.  I know i registered Ezzy but i am so disorganized, i don't know where i put the papers.  At least they weren't in the filing cabinet with the other vet papers.'  So i put it off, then i went to Chicago with Madison to Lollapalooza, then after we got back Bob's dad passed away, then I found out that the class i was hired to teach at the college actually made the cut, so i had 5 days in which to prep the class, then well, whatever life brings.... this poor guy was waiting for me to call and let him know if i could register him.  Well he showed up last week, "Do you remember me?" 'Oh my yes!  You still want him?  I was just thinking that i really needed to get rid of him before he becomes sexually mature and starts an in-breeding program.'  I let him know that i would work on that as quickly as i could but never thought that we decided he would just take the goat.  But i guess he did.

The sad part is i didn't even get to say goodbye to that handsome young man.  This is only the second goat i have sold.  Last one was to my best friend from Illinois, and there's a long story there, maybe she will share that one someday as my guest Blogger. I love all my goats so much, I've had a hard time selling any of them.

Hope you will live a happy, long, life Dionysus!  I will miss you!

Barn Bar production Season 3 Episode 6

Here we are filming the Season 3, Episode 6 for Barn Bar.  What is Barn Bar you ask? Wellllll........
www.barnbar.com
"What if," a man reasoned, half asleep at 3:00 in the morning, "a bunch of my friends, experienced actors or not, showed up at a bar I will build out in my barn and improvised "theatrical" material based on all our individual struggles to make sense of life in SE Minnesota and the known universe?"  In what can only be described as a dream come true, we are now making this up as we go along.  Characters will come and go, and evolve as they pass through the doors of the Barn Bar.  Stuff will happen.  It will be light-hearted, satirical humor for the most part, but it could get serious if it wants to.  We'll also feature lots of talented local musicians in a number of ways, so it's Cheers meeting up with Prairie Home Companion with a touch of Monty Python or Twin Peaks thrown in to keep it fresh.  We don't know what we're doing; maybe you do.

We also had the pleasure of having some of the town's most popular and elite personalities join us in the filming: Pam Whitfield; recent covergirl of Rochester Women Mag, Bari Amadio; Executive director of the Rochester Arts Council - among other things, and Jen Koski of the Post Bulletin's column Jen's World. Hopefully they will return, cuz when they don't go running from the barn screaming, its a good sign that they weren't scarred for life.

Jen was kind enough to even write an article about her experience.

http://www.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews_story.asp?z=2&a=479506



Halloween Party 10/30/10

Here they are!  The Halloween pics!  And thank you dear friend, Susan Waughtal for taking most of them. I get a little busy trying to wear too many hats on a night like this, photog gets put on the back burner sometimes! 

Anyone that shaves their head for just a party, wins a prize!

Pam said she always wanted to a Red Head and well, she's darn good looking as one, don't ya think?

Susan the Good Witch.

This one is my fav!  "Yes, we play all kinds of music: Country and Western!"

So we kept calling them a Rubik's cube but now that I look at it, maybe they were more like Tetris.  They fit together so well!

It certainly was a good time!  Thanks to all that came out and had fun!