Now, that's an Apple!

It is December 26th -- Boxing Day for the Englishly inclined! It's also my friend Ros' birthday, which is a happy coincidence, as she is, in fact, English.

I'm eating part of a fabulous Christmas gift from my sister, Kendra. It's humongous Fuji apple, dipped in caramel, and then dipped in dark chocolate -- incredible. If only all fruit came so decked out, I am sure my consumption would go way up. Apparently, it was a USPS nailbiter for Ken. The apples were nearly perishable victims of the Denver blizzard. I am very happy that it is diminishing in my kitchen instead.

In the backround is the completely adorable mosaic hedgehog she made me. Isn't he sweet? I considering repainting my kitchen so that it shows him off better than the current egg-yolk yellow (paint -- poorly applied -- by previous owners) on the walls.

It's been so long since I posted, it's not funny. Quite frankly, I lost the blog -- have no idea where it went. I googled blogspot, and *poof* it appeared. We don't question these things -- just send grateful thoughts out into the ether.

The big news since then -- the unnamed character is now named! Friedrich Henry -- AKA Fritz -- was born on September 25th! He's a chunker and a half -- came into this world at 9 pounds and at 12 weeks is hovering at 17 pounds! His sister weighed 17 pounds when she turned a year old! I find that fact remarkable and comical!

I'm still finishing up Christmas knitting. I have my mom's scaf to do, then I need to finish a wool soaker I put aside ages ago, make a sweater vest for Fritz, a scarf for my sister, longies and socks for Fritz, and then who knows what. I've drunk deeply of the 'crazy knitting lady' Kool-Aid (which makes an awesome yarn dye, BTW) and am thoroughly hooked. I'll likely post about that as much as I do my little chickens!

Erm, is this thing on?

I have no idea why I am doing this. A compulsion, perhaps. An attempt to make something so.

Nest Egg Farm does not exist -- at least not yet! For now, it is a state of mind. My goal is to make it a real, live place. But I think it will take us a minimum of three years to get there. So I've decided to put the power of positive thinking to work for me and start imagining how I want it, and what it will be.

Here's the goal:

My husband and I live in North Central Massachusetts, which is fine, but not ideal for us. He travels to his job in Cambridge every day, and the commute is a real slog. The ideal would be both of us working from home so that we will have more time to play and more control over how we live our lives. The ideal location will be Vermont. We have narrowed down our goal to either the Middlebury area, or Stowe. We are going to build an energy-efficient straw-bale home, practice the whole permaculture thing, get as off-the-grid as possible without sacrificing our internet connection and be close enough to a grocery store, schools and public library to not be slaves to our car. I want to convert a Diesel to a grease car, but a lot of things need to fall into place first.

The main characters:

Jens -- my hubby of nearly five years. Graphic designer with a cracked sense of humor and a devastating smile, but still needs to learn to hit the hamper or the washing machine, and NOT the floor in between.

Anneke -- our nearly three-year old daughter who is a pistol and-a-half! Plenty more to come about her.

"Baby Finkle" -- the bub in my belly who has been preventing any kind of quality sleep of late. Due to arrive at the end of September/beginning of October. Its name and details to be updated at that time.

Kenzie -- our spastic, allergic, hermetic Shiba Inu. She is unfit for company most of the time, but we love her! She's an ideal hiking companion, which is how she ended up in our lives in the first place.

Me -- neurotic, compulsive cleaner. Neophyte knitter. Inveterate tea drinker. In touch with my inner pitbull. Oh -- I'm a writer/editor/proofreader by profession. How it is I'm only starting a blog now is beyond me.

That is about it for now. Must go hit the shower and get my day going. Gotta get the offspring out of the house and run her ragged, as it poured rain here yesterday, and we were cooped up for far too long.