Spring...

That blog entry title could become the new theme of my blog - seasonal entries.... four entries per year...NOT. That is all changing. I have finally figured out how to upload pic.s here on my mac and I have more time. So I will blog. Though there may be no readers left, I will blog in isolation!
My sister's wedding was April 8th and was held at the Burge plantation, here in Mansfield, down the street from our farm. It is where Nicolas and I got married, 11 years ago. It was a very stormy day up until an hour or so before the ceremony when the darkness and raindops were replaced by brilliant sun. It was a wonderful, creative, moving ceremony and a great week - lots of parties here so LOTs of work but a great time was had by all. We got to see Kenneth and Naomi (who came from Australia) and Wilson and Anita - who surprised Kenneth a week later at a dinner for his 40th birthday by flying in from Boston. I am so grateful that my sister and brother both married such fantastic people. Jesse agrees. Here he is making his moves to get Naomi to sign his dance card for every dance at the reception. He succeeded! Kenneth was very patient about letting Naomi be usurped by his nephew.
Here is a picture taken at the reception in a photo booth that Bhu and Matt had set up.
The picture at the top is of the bride and groom. Bhu and Matt secretly took dance lessons in NY and surprised us all with a beautifully choreographed number for their first dance. The night before, at 2am, they had snuck into my back yard (supposedly to discuss thier vows) and had actually rehearsed their dance by moonlight. And here is another women I am blessed to have in my family - Gillen's godmama and my father's goddess - Dina.

The other big event since my Jan. post is more of a lifestyle change, a revelation... A woman who goes to the market every week brought Nicolas a set of CDs about the Weston Price diet. It makes so much sense to me, intuitively and based on the evidence set down in the books I have since read. I am staying away from processed foods, am milling flour and baking our own bread and soaking grains before cooking them and eating lots of raw dairy and pasture-fed meat.... Also, lots of coconut oil and cod liver oil, tons of butter..... There is a great explanation at www.westonaprice.org if you are interested. I am spending a lot of time in the kitchen but am finding that I am serving the kids a lot better by feeding them so well and by staying out of their way more, just there when they need me. I have noticed that they are calmer since feeding them more homebaked desserts (with maple syrup and rapadura instead of white sugar). We have strawberries from the farm now so are eating lots of strawberry ice cream. Mmmmmm.

Another cool thing that happened lately was a birding competition at Charlie Eliott Wildlife Center. Gillen had wanted to enter it months ago but didn't know other kids (that were old enough ) who shared his passion for birds. We finally found a few other boys locally and had a team, just in time! They spent the last Sun. of April (from 7am -6pm) looking for birds. When two on the team had identified a bird (no adult help allowed) they could check it off the list. The mother of the other boys had connections! We were able to visit an eagle nest an hour north of us and to visit a building in Atlanta where her brother works that has a Peregrine Falcon nest.

We waited a while for the falcon to show up but did finally see him coming back to his family with prey (they think it was a barn swallow) which ws soo exciting. They saw 38 birds just at the farm and many at the wildlife center. Their total was 68 different species. At a reception that night, there was a birds of prey show and many door prizes. At home, Gillen said that it was the best day of his life. I am so glad that he was able to enter.

Jesse's yu-gi-oh passion continues.... He went to his third tournament last Sun. and in true Jesse style, won it! He wants a yu gi oh birthday party next month. His plan is to have the invited friends all play a tournament but we are attempting to persuade him to make this more voluntary and only one aspect of the party. He wants a Yu Gi Oh cake and pinata. Hmmm. I am going to try to create a pinata that is made of three giant yugioh cards but haven't figured out the cake yet...

His other interests lately are geomags and reading. He reads all the time. Reminds me of my brother and I. I love how varied his choices are - Greek Myths (which led to picking several different versions of odysseus at the library), Harry Potter 4, Dinosaur encyclopedia and Captain Underpants (he's on the bionic booger boy pair of books in the series).

Nicolas and I are going to see "Train" in concert tommorow night and may be meeting them after (thanks to Elif). Am I going to be able to speak? What shall I wear? I have to maintain calm and not turn into a crazed groupie at the age of 42!

Next blog will actually include the farm (and hopefully a picture of Pat and the guys in Train...).