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Dreadiversary

I started this dreadful journey some years back in 2011. I can’t believe that it has been 4 years now. A lot has changed in those 4 years!

I’ve learned a few things along the way:

  • Some people do not like dreadlocks, and feel as if they need to tell you, as if it matters to you if a perfect stranger disapproves of you life.
  • Some people do like dreadlocks, and enthusiastically tell you, young and old, male and female.
  • A person can look nice and well groomed with dreadlocks or without them.
  • A person can look like hell warmed over with dreadlocks or without them.
  • Dreadlocks are not just a hairstyle. It isn’t something that you change on a whim. It is an investment. A lifestyle.
  • Dreadlocks are a lot of work! Ha! What was I thinking??
  • Dreadlocks are awesome. I already knew this, but now I have lived it.
  • Fabulous people have dreadlocks! 😉

Some of the things I’ve heard over the years:

  • “I don’t like dreadlocks for me, but they are fine for you.” ~ Lil Bit, age 6
  • “Tiger lady” ~by an elderly gentleman.
  • “Is that her real hair?” In a loud “whisper” by a lady.
  • “I love your hair” ~by many people over the years
  • “I’m jealous of your hair” ~tatted young dude at the gas station just the other day.
  • “I really like your hair” ~by a little girl in a church youth group just last night.
  • “If I had hair, I would have dreadlocks.” ~a man in line at the bank with short cropped bright yellow hair. We went on to become acquainted thanks to small town, social media, and hair!

I have had far more positive reactions to my dreadlocks than I have negative. The negative comes mostly in stares and upturned noses. Their loss. You don’t go on a dread journey to win a public opinion contest.

If I could do it all over again… I think that I would tell myself to doooo eeeeet  much earlier than what I did. So instead of 4 years of locked living, I could be like a decade now. 🙂

So thanks to those of you who have helped me on my journey: Amanda who knotted me up, my sister, my mom and Thing 1 for countless hours of maintenance. And for all of you beautiful people out there with locks who inspired me. ❤

Dreads on the Kenai

Dreads on the Kenai

 

John & Claire’s Anniversary

https://animoto.com/play/77tLof8uL2WR2rRPz6YqPw

Wishing you both a very Happy Anniversary!!

Mother’s Day 2015

https://animoto.com/play/qIK3rnVtjnDjsqpmmIExDg

Spring has Sprung!

It is definitely spring around here. Highs in the 50s and three nights in a row without the wood-stove… yep. And rain, we’ve had some of that along with pea-sized hail. It hails a lot here. Sunny one minute, hail the next. At least it seems that way! And it sounds really cool on a metal roof.

The ground is a sponge right now. Walking around my place feels squishy. Much too wet to plant anything yet. I have 4 flats of veggies sitting here in my kitchen windows anxiously waiting their future dirt homes.

I re-potted my avocado tree this week as well. It wasn’t quite root-bound but close. It is a good three feet tall now and branching out.

I need a sun-room for all of my plants!

Our Seder

…it was a bit unorthodox, but it works for us!
Since the kids are still quite young we had some fun making a Pesach tablecloth telling the story of the 10 plagues. We used some inspiration from Challah Crumbs coloring pages and fabric markers and got to work. I spaced ten circles around an oval, each representing one of the 10 plagues that hit Egypt-recorded in Scripture, encircling the Hebrew word for Pesach on our tablecloth. We don’t use the typical seder plate, so our table-cloth is sort-of our seder setting.

Thing 1 and I did most of the work. I sketched out the rough drawings and she got to work coloring in the motifs. Starting with #1, her specialty (Egyptology) and making her lettering look like it has little highlight bubbles… 🙂 She is proud of her little signature marks and she is quite creative (and knowledgeable about Egypt’s history).pesach2015

Thing 2 and Lil’ Bit preferred to play outside, they didn’t realize all of the fun we two were having… until they came in, and great wailing and gnashing of teeth came to pass when they discovered only two motifs remained! *gasp*

Once we finished our art work we heat set the cloth. We’ll add a few finishing touches with some white puffy paint so our table-cloth will be textured. Then some hemming of the two ends. Another project for another day is making some matching napkins and matzah covers.

pesach2015.2We enjoyed various modern Passover songs, including the best ever… Bohemian Rhapsody parody. You should watch it. Our meal was a seasoned, seared beef roast, sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts & matzah w/karpas and charoset of course. And wine. White Merlot is yummy! And of course, it was enough!

Much to Thing 2’s dismay, Thing 1 discovered the afikomen and was awarded a cash prize. With a lesson about grace and mercy, Thing 2 and Lil’ Bit were rewarded with small gifts of their own. Teaching moments… once a homeschooler, always a homeschooler.

We have a few new recipes to try this year for our week of Unleavened Bread but are already looking forward to next year and our cool tablecloth. ❤

Passover

Wishing you love & light as we observe the memorial of the Exodus and the Passover; our festival of freedom from slavery & exile and returning to our homeland.

pesach

The case for Passover instead of Easter. 

It’s a New Day!

newday

2 Years

Today marks the second anniversary of Dad’s death. Two years.

It seems surreal.

Like it hasn’t been that long, and yet, like it’s been ages.

I’ve been out at the cabin the past two weekends which helps a lot. Finding comfort in and around his things. His world. This is one of the last photos I had of Dad before his accident, Kim sent it to me. Dad was waving, seems so appropriate now.

Photo credit: Kim Good

Photo credit: Kim Good

It’s time for a glass of rhubarb wine, and a toast to the man, to the legend! Love you Dad.

Author Unknown

Author Unknown

P.S. Last year I made a remembrance wreath and hung on Dad’s cabin door. The little notebook I put there has had several entries by the friends who have stopped by. Reading their words, knowing their love for Dad, is comforting. ❤

Lessons…

understand

To Do List

My To Do List is growing!

The greenhouse needs re-sheeting (eventually be glassed in).
The fence needs mended.
The garden needs weeded.
The rest of the cabin needs sanded and sealer put on.
The woodshed needs a refinishing and restocked (mostly after someone helped themselves to half of the wood).
The cache needs to be rebuilt (it finally toppled last fall).
The cabin floor needs to be repainted.
The sauna needs sanded and sealer put on too.
The sauna needs a metal roof at some point…

Now at my house…

The greenhouse needs to be erected.
The garden needs tilling.
Seedlings need to be transplanted.
The second garden needs a gate.
The compost pile needs moved.
The rhubarb and horseradish need moved.
Dirt work over the new water line.
Dirt work on the hill next to the house.
Transplant raspberries.
Build a patio cover and 2 decks.
Finish interior walls and drywall work.
Install cabinets, back-splash and center workstation island in Kitchen.
Finish bathroom.
Install flooring.

I think I need to clone myself! Two of us just isn’t enough to get all of this work done. Thank Yah for our looooong summer days!