The Radical Homemaker

Warning: Blending authenticity with joy may arouse contempt.

Of Songs and Suppers

“Can we invite Cyndi Lauper over for dinner?”  Ula asks.   Occasionally, my children’s dim understanding of reality surprises me.  I am standing in the kitchen, searing pieces of beef before flicking them in the slow cooker to make a stew for Saturday at the market.  She will be accompanying me, even though the forecast […]

The Goose and the Gander

On Sunday, there is a break in the rain.  There is a lot we could be doing in that break:  painting beehives, knocking back the weeds around the grapes and blueberries, mowing the lawn, taking the girls for a slow amble to one of the nearby ponds, catching up on needed sleep.  We are doing […]

Whipped

Two days of the on-farm open house plus three markets in two days over the weekend. We are whipped, and I want some sleep time. I will be back with regularly scheduled posts next week.

Visiting Neighbors

When I need to think, I often head out to the abandoned cemeteries around here and chat with the original homesteaders of these lands. These neighbors are good listeners, they get where I am coming from, and they almost always send me on my way with a deeper sense of peace. This week, Saoirse and […]

Nick and the Porcupine

The first summer we lived here, Bob awoke one night to a chewing sound he heard outside.  He went out to investigate.  As he shined his light on the door of our shed, a porcupine unabashedly turned and looked at him before returning to his treated lumber supper.  Bob tried to yell at him to […]

Reading Accomplishments

Ula was setting out knives and forks for lunch when I took the phone call from the graduate student.  Time zone differences had required that we schedule this midday hour to speak, thus I had no choice but to drain the juices off the meatloaf and make gravy while we were on the phone.  She […]