Peanut Butter?
Dexter is such a fun cat, he’s adventurous in every way, even in his diet. I know Dexter will eat just about anything I give him, our other cats are super picky. One day I was eating a spoonful of peanut butter and he decided he wanted a taste.
I didn’t let him taste it until I was just about finished, he polished off the rest on my spoon. Now, whenever he smells peanut butter he makes a pest of himself until he gets some. He’s just about as bad with pumpkin pie, which he also loves.
Do you have any pets that eat crazy things?
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Snow Dogs
Tara has been living at Chiot’s Run for almost three months now. She came to us towards the end of September and is really settling in to her role as protector of all things living. I find her sleeping by the ducklings sometimes and she frequently patrols the perimeter fence we have set up now. She’s also really liking the cold weather, she finally spends her days outside without panting and searching for shade. She was definitely made for winter! Lucy is also a winter loving dog, she gets super excited when the snow starts to fall. You can almost see a extra spring in her step when the weather turns cold.
Tara even has a few nicknames already, Terrible T seems to be the one she likes best, though she’s anything but terrible. We also call her Sweet T to round it out.
Yesterday, Tara spent all day out and towards evening we discovered that she had started to dig herself a den. It’s located in a small ravine between the chicken and duck coops. You can’t tell she’s in there until she sits up and pops her head over the top of the rocks. It’s the perfect place to be able to hear what’s going on and be close to both coops.
We have yet to decide on a permanent place for T, but we’re thinking this might be a good. Perhaps a little roof over her den or just laying saplings and pine boughs might suffice. We knew she’d eventually show us the place she wanted to claim as her own, this should work until the snow melts in spring, then she’ll have to find herself a new den. It can be hard to have strictly outdoor animals in our society, people think they’re being abused or neglected. Some certainly are, but there are those that are much happier being outside, Tara is one of those! It can also be hard on us as we want to protect them and keep them safe, truth is, Tara is perfectly able to take care of herself and knows what she wants and needs.
Have you ever had outdoor animals?
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Fun with Uncle Brian
When we travel back to Ohio we make sure to schedule lots of time with our nieces & nephew. This trip back was no different. They are especially fond of Mr Chiots (aka uncle Brian) and of course they love his iPad. One day, while Mr Chiots was off hunting, they were over and asked where the iPad was. I told them Mr Chiots had it, they proceeded to ask when he was coming back.
They have loads of fun playing games with him, it’s certainly nice to have an adult that will take the time to play games with them. I bake cookies and do other crafty things with them, uncle Brian is the techie adult to play games and watch movies with.
Do you remember having adults you loved spending time with as a kid?
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Getting Into the Holiday Spirit
Back in Ohio, Mr Chiots and I always attending Christmas in Zoar to kick off our holiday season. We just missed the celebration, it was this past weekend. Instead, we attended the holiday open house at Montpelier the Henry Knox Museum. Our neighbor was playing bells during the open house, so we enjoyed listening to her bell choir as well.
We’ll be looking for a few more holiday activities to attend up here in Maine (so if you live up and have any recommendations let us know).
Do you attend any local holiday celebrations to get into the spirit of the season?
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Quote of the Day: Jessica Prentice
In the rush to industrialize our food system, tradition has not only been ignored, it has been actively shunned. We make the assumption that the new thing is the better thing, indicating progress and vision, and that the old thing is obsolete. But vision, to be healthy, must be balanced by tradition. Unfortunately our country neglects tradition.
Jessica Prentice – Full Moon Feast: Food and the Hunger for Connection
I was thinking about this quote as I was talking to my grandma about her childhood last week. She said they raised 8-9 hogs each year and butchered them in the winter to help feed the 8 kids in the family. We chatted about how we butchered our own hogs a few weeks ago right on our place.
Growing and raising your own food is definitely a way to connect with tradition. For most of history our ancestors have had a hands on connection with their food. Not only in the cultivation of it but in the processing of it as well. If you can’t grow your own vegetable or raise your own meat, I’d highly recommend connecting with a small local farm that does. Even going out to the farm to see the vegetables in the garden and animals in the field will help connect you with your food heritage.
Learning to make food from scratch is also a way to connect with tradition. One of my favorite things to make is bread, whenever I knead bread I think about the millions of women around the world that are kneading bread now and the billions that have done it throughout the ages. Such a simple act that transcends culture and time.
What kind of food do you feel most connects you with the past?
