updateland

just some random updates, it's all i've got energy and time for....

socks
i finished one sock and it fits and works like a sock should. i'm nearly done with the heel flap of the second sock, which will be followed by the gussets. i'm feeling confidant that i can do it successfully. the knitting class is continuing to meet, but at the axe and fiddle now. next week i'm taking the stuff i'll need to learn to make hats. i bartered six soaps for the class, so all i have to do is buy the yarn, which i can pay for with the extra soaps i sold to another woman in the class.

garden
i fit as many of my tomato plants as i could into various places in the garden, and i set up the soaker hoses to drain the yard tub. collards, kales, broccoli, cauliflowers, onions, beans, peas, potatoes, and whatever else i'm forgetting to mention, are all thriving. we are currently--or just finished--eating from the garden: radishes, lettuce, kale, spinach, peas, strawberries (only 2 so far), arugula, italian dandelions, rainbow chard, and corn salad. most of my herb seeds didn't take. i think i still have time to try again.

blue mountain school
it's up in the air. we have to try to renew knowing that it's nearly impossible that the board will renew us, so that we can appeal the renewal, in which case we'd have a decision in september...if the decision isn't what we need it to be, we could go to court (trying to get an injunction to keep funding until it's resolved). we had one of those long, brain and body-numbing meetings last night. we decided to declare our intention to open in september with the caveat that we have no idea how long we'd be able to STAY open, given all the horrible circumstances. families like ours will be fine, because we're just going to homeschool if the school closes. but for families who have had to seek out other schools to enroll in, it's a tough decision. if they come to bms and then we close, they have to start in a new school in the middle of the semester, which would likely be painfully hard, especially since it is a whole new system with a lot more demands and restrictions than they are used to. those families will have to decide for themselves what to do, those of us for whom it will be less debilitating if the school closes midstream are soldiering on, for now. there's a hearing about the renewal on the 7th of july and a bms board meeting to decide about whatever happens at the hearing on the 9th of july.

health
my under-the-neck-and-through-the-shoulders pain is back. it's getting in the way of all the stuff i want and/or need to do and i'm hoping it will resolve quickly. it tends to inspire these nauseating headaches, which also slow me down.
i had an appointment with a naturopath last week and am having blood drawn this morning to be tested for all kinds of exciting things like vitamin levels, hormone levels, cholesterol levels, iron levels, cell counts, etc, etc...
in the mean time i've been advised to follow the blood type diet...i'm an O positive...i'm supposed to eat a ton of beef and veggies (except a few that aren't good for me) and avoid dairy, beans, bread....it's a pain in the ass, sort of to have to think about it and eating that much pastured beef would probably be cost prohibitive, so i'm just slowly meandering my way there at the moment. i followed the diet before when i was pregnant with hazel and did feel really great, so i know it works well for me. but it's super challenging and i'm not sure how well i can do it this time. i also now eat a tablespoon of cod liver oil and two tablespoons of ground flax seeds every day in a smoothie, which sounds gross, i know, but if you put enough fruit in the smoothie, it's not bad, really.

that's all the updates i have time for right now. i hope all is well in your world and you are feeling loved today.

i'm grateful for:
endurance
patience
love
faith
the act of surrender