several weeks ago my boss's boss sent me an email praising me for saving the state of missouri over twenty thousand dollars. during the past three months i have spent over half my time in training classes for required certifications for our facility. i have been preparing for a long and healthy working relationship--even committing to retiring out of division of youth services, state of missouri.
the main problem is that i am only halftime. in fact, i remained the final half time employee in DYS. until now that is.
yes, i got laid off as of upcoming february first. the real explosion hasn't happened, so the dust can't really settle yet. i am optimistic, my department of natural resources certification has come through just in the nick of time. i wrote a letter and my boss signed it stating that i did indeed have the experience necessary to qualify for the the "C" license.
ultimately we have plenty of food, a roof over our head, plenty of wood to heat with, and big car payment--our only scary expense. the kids health insurance will change but they'll remain covered. i plan to apply for unemployment and look for work. i also hope to get some sorely needed things done around here. we plan to make many upgrades to our garden. i hope to build the kids a play structure out of cedar logs that will double as a garden shed. the feed barn needs to be redone, exterior and roof. i have most of the materials for this.
more importantly i need to get the milking barn done. we'll use a bit from our tax return to buy the few needed materials and we will make a family project out of it. a cob barn with a slip-form foundation. i'll make a blog label and accompanying series of posts. this might afford me the time to really flush out this blog with sustainably minded projects.
my brain is percolating with ideas to make extra money around here. i might attempt to fill some niche markets that would have served our needs and i assume that others would benefit from them too. to be announced..
we will be selling seedlings this spring, tomato, pepper, sweet potatoes and several flower varieties. we have the green house and will need to start ours so we'll start all extras and sell them too. this could actually be a real boon to our spring finances.
i'll post further about this as the dust settles.
Friday, January 08, 2010
after saving twenty thousand dollars..
Posted by
karl
at
10:50 AM
4
comments
Sunday, January 03, 2010
sunday, snowy sunday
don't try and take me off this sled. it's mine i will permit only one passenger though.
-rome
a true snow-boy. he takes after his father in this respect.
-tristan
snow tastes good.
-toly
kassi and tristan blazing the trail with rome in tow.
ok, i'm getting cold.
the trail to the summit.
ready..
set..
go..
kassi patiently waiting her turn.
my beautiful baby mama princess.
this is where the new sled broke.
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karl
at
12:13 PM
7
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Saturday, January 02, 2010
the new year
we spent the day cleaning out the refrigerator and defrosting it. yes, we allegedly have a frost free fridge. this has happened before whent he drain tube got clogged by errant food stuff. i hope this works because if it frosts up again then that means it is broken. our local repair guy is reasonable but this is bad timing having just had christmas and all.
henry is still very sick. tabitha mentioned that he might need to be "put down" i can't bring myself to do it. i still harbor a glimmer of hope that he might snap out of it.
the kids are still very happy with their christmas gifts. tristan has been glued to his nintendo DS, legend of zelda spirit tracks. i have been helping a little but finally showed him how to find the walkthrough via google.
we got toly one of those crank-up flash lights.
no news about tristan yet. we are going to see the doctor about a biopsy in a few weeks. none of the doctors seem to think that it is anything really bad. i just want to know..
kassi is wonderful and really really want to go visit my parents in michigan in the spring. she takes after my mother in many ways. it will be exciting to see them together.
rome is great, too cute and knows it. he and toly are a team and when they are being good it is like bliss but when they are being naughty i worry that i might not survive.
happy new year
my resolution is to try to post more often, that is if i believed in resolutions..
Posted by
karl
at
8:24 PM
3
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categories: kids
terra preta
the charcoal controversy as a soil amendment has boggled me for quite a while. arguments on both sides have been so convincing that i just stayed away from forming an opinion. my google-fu has been very strong of late and i believe that i can form an opinion and defend it. so here goes,
the good
charcoal is very porous and it can afford places for the beneficial stuff to latch on. the little fungi and other microorganisms that help plants get nutrients like to live on porous stuff like zeolite and charcoal. it can also lighten the soil and make it retain water much better.
the bad
charcoal can absorb great amounts of nutrients which your plants might like to use. this is especially true when composting and many believe that charcoal and compost should never be mixed.
the solution
terra preta is portuguese for black earth. some time near the birth of christ the indigenous amazonian people were making a rich black soil. they a have basically been trying to reverse engineer the stuff and now believe that they understand it.
if i read this correctly then all i really need to do is "charge up" my charcoal with something very nutrient rich like urine or chicken manure tea. i am normally kinda scared of chicken manure compost since it easily burns plants. i then can add my "charged up" charcoal to my compost and get all the benefits of the charcoal without the deficits.
further reasons to use charcoal in this way is it sequesters carbon that breaks down fairly slowly. ideally i would create my charcoal in a low temperature situation but my wood stove is a great place to get charcoal since i already waste some when removing my ashes. ok, i realize that the small amount of carbon that i can sequester is infinitesimally small but at least i'm thinking about it..
Posted by
karl
at
8:00 PM
2
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categories: garden
Friday, December 25, 2009
christmas photos
making cookies
colored pencil holders, and pajamas by tabitha. i made the castle facade. the kids were up past two am. a reasonable person might think that they would sleep past the crack of dawn--but NO.
fairy princess outfit from my parents.
blurry dance.
tolys new cape by tabitha. yes it is magical and will make the wearer take flight.
the chin scruff is from a pre-cape landing.
kassi is dragging rome into the photo wearing his new pajamas. while kassi is sporting her new dress that tabitha also made.
redecorating the boxes was an attempt at extending the gift opening era.
father and son glued to the new zelda game.
rome really likes his plane.
it snowed indoors too..
sweet satisfaction.
Posted by
karl
at
5:57 PM
6
comments
categories: kids photos, nostalgia
Sunday, December 20, 2009
secrecy forces me not to blog
it might be just wishful thinking but henry might be getting slightly better. please keep those collective conscious thoughts flowing. there is no news on the tristan front except that he doesn't have TB. probably tomorrow we'll know something about the blood-work that was sent last week. if this were a TV episode we'd already have the results. i wonder which geographically impaired lab they are using?
i have been making presents for the kids. tristan reads this blog so i can't tell you yet nor show photos of progress. you'll just have to wait like the kids, sorry. the kids are really excited. toly wants me to decorate the exterior of the house. i might have to crumble under his innocent pleas. the kids will have an excellent christmas in spite of our financial woes. the home-made things we have collectively mustered will make a christmas to remember.
pandora has been keeping us in a steady flow of christmas music. the kids know the words to most of the christmas music available. i admit i'm a little overwhelmed by it. anticipation hangs thick around here. kassi has been wrapping random stuff and putting it under the tree. i had to put my foot down after the tv remote got "lost" in some wrapping paper.
Posted by
karl
at
7:54 PM
12
comments
Monday, December 14, 2009
nothing good to report
henry has taken a turn for the worse. every morning when i go out to see him i creep up on him like i would if he were the grim reaper. his breathing is very shallow. i can't muster the will to put him down. every evening i wishfully entertain that he might pull out of it.
tristan has been sickly for the past few weeks. migratory lymph node swelling with pain. we find out about scheduling for a biopsy later today. the doctor is sure that it isn't anything really serious but has no real answers.
the greenhouse took a mild setback during a cold night last week. i have installed a new heating method and things are alright for now.
i passed my certification test 90%. i can't get get certified yet because i took the harder test trying for a higher certification. they sent me a letter of decline because my lack of experience in the field. i have 12 months to reapply with further hours-in-field and training, otherwise i have to re-test.
this is a homemade christmas this year. purchased toys are at an all time low. we are struggling to make time to work on gifts. nosy kids attempt to thwart our every effort at secrecy.
Posted by
karl
at
6:15 AM
11
comments
categories: animals, kids photos
Sunday, November 29, 2009
180°
Posted by
karl
at
6:59 PM
6
comments





