Most difficult, back-breaking DIY project to date.

You may have guessed it: SOD

Never having laid sod before, we thought, "How hard could it be?". Famous last words, right? We have been clearing brush and weeds for 18 months. Then in April, my dad came to help us do some essential heavy lifting with a backhoe.
Finally, we had the earth prepped and ready. So we ordered 40 pallets of sod.

Yes, 40 pallets.

As the pallets were being delivered, my stomach began to churn. How would we ever be able to do this project. You see, with sod, you are on a time crunch because the sod is very tender and will ruin if left on the pallets for more than 4 days, or if left in the sun.

Needless to say, this is the hardest 5 day project we have ever gotten ourselves into.

But now as I look around at my beautiful property, I have only joy and gratefulness in my heart.

A Possum in the Henhouse!

Sitting contently at my computer at about 11pm, when I hear the chicken alarm going off outside. The chicken alarm is the sound the chickens make in danger, my kids call it "baGalking".
I jumped up, called the dogs and ran out to see what all the fuss was about. And there it was, a nasty evil-eyed possum, hanging as still as can be on the wall of the henhouse. Fortunately, we only had one casualty - one of our young hens.

Creighton was not home yet, so I was forced to brainstorm a solution on my own. "Do I have a shovel or rake out here to knock him down off the wall? Nope. Even if I did, what would I do then?"
So clearly, I did the next logical thing. I peeled him off the wall with my bare hands. My assumption being that if I grab the nape of his neck, he would be immobilized, like a cat. So that's what I did.

This revolting creature kept trying to reach his head around and bite me! Did you know that possum tails are scaly? And their fur is itchy and bristly. Their beady eyes are of the underworld.

I threw him in a kennel and waited for Creighton to get home.

Ok, so what do I do with the possum now? I do have a hand-gun, but can not discharge a firearm in the city limits. Do I be-head it with a machete? Not only is that messy and violent, I can only imagine that the veins of this demon run with toxic poison.

Not to belabor the story. We ended up drowning the possum in our creek. Held him down with a shovel and drowned him. Only in one moment of weakness, did a wave of compassion wash over me. Then I remembered the havoc, that this grotesque intruder was wreaking.

Here are some pics of my sweet little flock. And a word to the wise. You mess with my fluffy little feathered friends, you die.

My next goal: Rid my house of toxic products

I have been watching documentaries for months now. My kids walk into the room and crack up, "Mom, are you watching a documentary again?" My most recent doc is called "CHEMERICAL". It's on netflix. The film really inspired me to look at the contents of my kitchen/bathroom/laundry area and even hair and skin care products. Even though I have done a significant amount of purging because of the septic system (ref: my blog post - Cleaning Up), I have realized that there is still a significant amount of toxicity lurking around in my cabinets. My goal for the summer 2012 is to rid my house of all the rest of the toxic products I put on my body and in my lungs - and that of my family. I will let you know how it goes! You can check out my inspiration at their website: chemericalnation.com

WORK WEEK at the Alexanders!

My dad came to help us on our property for a week. We re-did our septic system field lines, pushed out a new driveway, trenched for a sprinkler system and outdoor electrical. He ran the backhoe for 2 full days, then helped Creighton map out the electrical/sprinkler layout. It was an amazing week. We got so much done. AND he saved us thousands of dollars....

The 25th was his 65th birthday. My sister flew in to surprise him. We had a cookout, invited local friends, and all 16 children sang happy birthday to Papa. :)

Obsession de jour: Justin Robinett

"Somebody that I used to know" COVER: Justin Robinett

Cleaning up!

When we moved to Alabama, I realized that our property has a septic tank. If you don't know what that means it is simply this: An individualized waste-water disposal system. The house is 50 years old so our septic system is struggling a bit, but still working for now. Nevertheless, because a septic system relies on bacteria to break down waste, one has to be extra careful what they put down the drains. That's right. No more "anti-bacterial" cleaners for the Alexanders (shocker to me because I am crazy about bleach). This is good, because for years now I have been trying to figure out how to make the switch to organic and plant based biodegradable products. I just thought they were cost prohibitive. Now, I don't have much of a choice. For now, these are the products I have found and have been using for months. They smell great, work great, and yes - they are more expensive.

Myers, Method and Kirkland (Costco) have good solutions for dishes. Whether my kitchen sink or dishwasher - I have to be mindful of what goes down the drain!

I filled up a spray bottle of vinegar water. This is what I clean around all my drains with. For an abrasive scrub, I use baking soda on EVERYTHING! And I know I can be safe with Myers' All Purpose Cleaner.

For hands: all my bathrooms have Myers hand soap. It smells divine.

For showers: I love Dr. Bonners Castille soap. It's expensive, but transcendent. I am trying to figure out how to make my own shower gel. But that is about 5th down on the list right now. I have tried washing my hair with baking soda, and conditioning with apple cider vinegar. It was a good experience, but I have not gotten used to the feeling of no suds. :)

Laundry, I have been using ECO, a product I get at Sams. And Myers fabric softener. My friend Meredith has started making her own laundry detergent. She gave me a sample which I have been using the last couple of weeks. So far, so good. She is going to teach me how to do it. I will post about that in a few weeks.

I'm Outdoorsy.

A Gift in Spring!

Chelsea and Laila came for a visit!

My sister from another mother and her presh babygirl came to visit us over spring break! We had such a great time! Went to the Birmingham Zoo, to CHUY'S (of course), and just hung out here at the house for 5 blissful days!

It was such a sweet time I will treasure forever!

Cheers!

Best Animals on the Planet

Apollo: 4  Athena: 2  Helo: 1

My hen house is finished!

My wonderful Husband built me the henhouse of my dreams! The roof, the siding and the door, are repurposed materials. For nesting boxes, we used plastic 5gallon home depot tubs. And as for their evening roosting, we cut crape myrtle branches and fastened them to the walls so the chickens can roost off the ground on a rounded comfortable branch. It is 16X16. Big enough for about 30 hens. Right now I have 10, so hoping to build up my flock soon! I turn them out during the day so they can forage for bugs and greens. They are so lovely. And they are keeping up with our egg consumption - which is so nice!

At some point I will start selling my organic eggs. Said Creighton, "Awesome, that means that by 2020, we will have our hen house paid for...."

EWOK VILLAGE: Phase 1 of 3

Creighton has finished the first phase of our EWOK village. Two more structures to come, plus a bridge over the creek. I don't know who is having more fun with this property - the kids or us!!

This structure is two story. The first story has a 5 foot head clearing. The second level is lined with bamboo we cut right off our property. Each level is a 10x8 space for the kids to play on. And the upper level has a "porch" (one side that is open for them to dangle legs off).

Reading list

My friend just gave me the book The Hunger Games. Has anyone read it? I am a tiny bit afraid...

These are the books I am currently reading:

The encyclopedia of Organic gardening
ZEO, The Zombie guide to getting "a head" in business
Yoga Anatomy

These are the books I recently finished:

Self-sustaining with 5 acres
Composting for dummies
Living with chickens
Love Wins

Dreaming...

Fall in Alabama is amazing. It is beautiful outside. Creighton is busy building a tree house. I am busy working on my hen house (photos forthcoming). But today I am dreaming of our backyard outdoor living room.
This is the nearly blank slate we have to start with:



Plans for my fireplace: Hopefully it will look more like this:













And when we are done with the whole project, I am envisioning something like this:




Lots of plans in the works here at the Texas Embassy. I will keep you updated.