Isn't it self explanatory?
These were taken late afternoon today. The guys worked until 8 pm, aided by lights on the pickup truck and tractor (it’s dark by 5 these days). We just went down to look at things with a flashlight. It’s amazing clear. Looks like a little more work to do tomorrow morning. Fresh pictures tomorrow.
We’ve been wanting to choose a good, long book to take turns reading aloud in the evening during the coming winter nights. Tonight we picked up T.H. White’s The Once and Future King, a favorite of Michael’s and mine from way back. In fact, I don’t think I’ve read it since I was in high school.
Back then, of course, I identified with the “Wart” because he was the child and the hero. Tonight, though, as Michael read the first three chapters to us, I suddenly recognized a deep sympathy and understanding of King Pellinore, portrayed in the story as a bumbling knight in search of “The Questing Beast”. Pellinore has been searching for this beast for 17 years. He’s sick and tired of the whole enterprise, and all he wants is a nice, soft bed:
“Oh, how I do wish I had a nice house of my own to live in, a house with beds in it and real pillows and sheets. If I was rich that’s what I would buy. A nice bed with a nice pillow and a nice sheet that you could lie in… “
And when the Wart (Arthur) tells Pellinore that if he helps him find his way back to his (Arthur’s) home, his guardian will surely give Pellinore a feather bed of his own for the night, Pellinore says:
“A feather bed of one’s very own, with sheets and a pillow — perhaps even two pillows, or a pillow and a bolster — and no need to get up in time for breakfast!”
This is a man after my own heart.
[from xkcd, via language log]
We’ve got the rain, wind, and grey skies at any rate.
Some years ago, we brought home the Reduced Shakespeare Company DVD, The Complete Works of Shakespeare (abridged), 
from the local public library, because Hyla couldn’t get enough of Shakespeare and the back cover made it sound like fun. And it was. Maybe portions of it were slightly inappropriate for a six-year-old, but most of it made us all laugh out loud. We’ve been quoting from it ever since (“Maybe! Maybe Not!”).
When we learned that the local high school was putting on a production of it this November, we put the date on our calendar. And tonight was the night. A company of 8-10 high school actors put on a terrific show. We sat in the front row and Hyla’s smile was as wide as anything, seeing her favorite scenes performed live, and getting to quote some of her favorite audience-participation lines before the actors told us what to say (“Maybe! Maybe Not!”). As we were driving back home, Hyla was saying how much she wanted to rewatch the DVD and it occurred to us that we’d never actually bought the DVD – we’d only ever borrowed it.
Hmmm. Well, we could always go to the library tomorrow morning and borrow it again, right?
Alternatively, we could go home, check online to see if the local Borders had it in stock, call the store to verify that they did have it, load everyone (including the dog) into the car at 9.30 pm and drive to Borders, and buy it.
I’ll give you one guess which option we chose.
It’s been quite a while since we’ve made some real cheese around here, aside from a quick batch of too-salty mozzarella that we whipped together on Halloween weekend and a tasty serving of paneer to go with our Indian food feast with friends a few weeks back (are you admiring my use of alliteration?).
This summer, we made several batches of chèvre and we were getting into the swing of that, but never took it further. In October, I attended a two-day advanced cheese making workshop (and, yes, I’ve been meaning to write about that and post some pictures), which was an incredibly inspiring and overwhelming experience. But have we made cheese since then? No.
Clearly, the only thing standing between us and becoming cheese makers is, um, making some cheese. Honestly, we don’t even need the goats to make cheese. We know where to buy the milk.
I’m looking at this site every day now. Sometimes several times a day. I’m getting tired of the same old look.
So I’m trying out a few new themes and layouts here and there. Redecorating. Cleaning out some old stuff. How about a new theme every day? No, I think not…
Long ago, we had a garden in a low part of our land, just beyond the deck at the old house location, where the land drops off and gets all scrubby. We fenced it in and had a pretty good-sized garden, but we abandoned it after just a couple of years because the plot was full of stinging nettle and other nasty spikey plants that made weeding a nasty chore.
We started a new garden on the tame lawn. Eventually, that garden was plowed under to make a runway for the house move. Meanwhile, the old garden grew over with scrub trees and bushes and brambles – sort of a mini version of the growth around Sleeping Beauty’s castle. We never even removed the old fence posts and wire. Maybe there are still carrots sleeping 100 years later in that old garden.
This morning we had a guy out to look at the spot and give us an estimate to clear it. This is the spot where the goats are going to go and we need to build a shed or a barn or some sort of shelter for next spring, but first we need a clear spot on which to put that shelter.
Clearing might happen as early as this weekend (weather permitting). We still don’t have a design for a shed and we probably won’t build anything until next spring, but I’m happy just to get to step one.
Actually, happy is an understatement.
So no blog post today.
(When is a blog post not a blog post?)