No news is good news

So it's been awhile. Hi. Nice to see you here. Sorry I haven't written for so long. I'm a bit like that.

For what we've been up to since I wrote last, check out Nick's blog. He is a prolific picture poster too, so that's a bonus.

Long story short: we moved in with Grizzly and Sunny (and their village of kids) at the end of July. We laid out our tiny cob house plan, dug the foundation trench, laid down drainage pipe and gray water pipe, laid gravel, obtained truckloads of rocks from a local quarry, built the foundation, and started cobbing!... and then the rains came. We hung up a giant tarp to cover the building site and protect it through the winter, but it's too cold to cob now. So we're taking a cobbing hiatus until spring. In the meantime, it is an amazing place to hang out, all protected from the rain, interesting rocks everywhere. It looks a bit like an excavation site for a thousand year old house. Awesome. So that's what's going on with the cob house. Come spring, we'll be ready to cob. We have (literal) tons and tons of sand, clay and soil and a bit of straw. We have our two doors and myriad windows (we still need at least 3 little interesting windows for the kids' rooms). We have loads of people who want to help us make cob and throw it onto the walls. We're set. Just waiting on Mother Nature, and that's just fine.

Our free-range kids are loving life. We're taking a break from Village (where they took classes last year) due to financial and geographical constraints, and everyone is fine with that- it's nice to not have to be anywhere. There are lots of kids around to play with, and our kids are really thriving. We have a real village going on now. We have friends that come up to stay sometimes - our gorgeous friend Corry brings her kids and her dog and then camps out in the kitchen making amazing food for the crew and our village expands for a few days. Life is good. We have found that living with a lot of people is easy if everyone is honest and straightforward with each other all of the time. Everyone wants to be happy, so it works.

We spend most of our time at home, working on projects and getting into routines. Nick and I have discovered a wonderful dynamic: I am a really great starter of things and he's a very efficient long-term doer. I get interested in a subject that I know will enhance our lives (like sprouting, making nut milks, aromatherapy), get a bunch of books from the library and read 1/10th of each of them, buy the supplies we'll need, then get started. Then I kind of drop off. And then, if it was something Nick agreed was awesome while it lasted, he'll pick up the reins, make some improvements, and carry on. Every day, that guy makes almond milk for a huge household. He soaks and sprouts beans for huge batches of food to feed the village. He makes amazing raw vegan smoothies for the kids. He sprouts alfalfa and red clover and broccoli and fenugreek seeds so that we can have leafy greens with every meal. He's a dude. And he does it all with a smile on his face. Love that amazing man.

I am currently in the running for an office position at an amazing gentle birth center near our home (well, as near as anything really gets - we're way out there). It would be 3 days a week, and I would spend my days surrounded by pregnancy and birth and midwives and babies! I'm almost too excited and hopeful to mention it in case I don't get it, but I'm perfect for the position and it is perfect for me, so I kind of think it must be mine. I should know this week. Wish me luck!!

And in more news... Nick and I have a new venture. Check out our Etsy store and think of us for your holiday shopping! After I sign off here, I'll be working on some more items to add to our store, so check back often.

That's it for now. Lots of love to everyone out there!