Super Trooper

I just want to share our blessed rescue horse and his story while I have the chance.


A view of our pen at the rental house and the horses having some lunch.

At the end of May of 2012 my neighbor knocked on my door asking if I would take in a stray horse. Haha, I have never taken in a "stray" horse before, at first I thought she was pulling my leg.  We've had pleanty of stray dogs before, even a cat and a lizard once, never a stray horse.  As she was telling me everything I kept expecting her to laugh and say it was all a joke, lol.

Several of the neighbors found him out roaming around and were unable to find any one who recognized him. Nobody else really had room for him and at the time our pasture was empty, so we decided we were up for boarding him and figuring out whatever came next from there.

When I got to the neighbors barn to bring him home it was just a heart breaking site. The horse was just skin and bones, it was so sad. He was just so disconnected and sad, and moved so slow and broken down. Despite all that, he was still very friendly, tolerant, and calm. My good friend and neighbor Sherry who had stowed him in her barn long enough to come get me kept telling me what a sweet thing he seemed to be. None of us could imagine how he came to be so thin.

But if you could see past the bones, he was just a beautiful horse under all that emaciation.



This is how he looked when I brought him home that first night. It was May 25th.

Since we didn't get him until after 5pm on a Friday night, I wasn't able to get a vet out until the following Monday. I have never had a horse come to us anywhere near THIS thin, I was intimidated and super worried I might do something wrong to make him worse.  When I got him that night I had such a strong urge to make the vet come LIVE with us to be on the safe side, lol.

His feet were so sore, and a bit long. He was hardly able to walk from my neighbors house over to ours. He was trying his best to please us, but you could tell it was so painful for him to walk on the rough road. We had to stop several times because it was so hard for him. Once we got him to our pen and back on softer footing, he did much better.

And these are from the next day....

May 26th


Looking at these pictures still makes my heart sink...

All the many neighbor horses who lived around us were fat and happy and had lost their winter coats by this point. It was almost June and already getting pretty hot out, but this guys heavier coat remained because his body was so compromised and unable to shed.

Because he has such a noble face, and seemed to have such a faithful attitude despite having been through so much we decided to call him Trooper.

The following Monday our vet came out and gave him a full examination. They found he scored a 2/9 BSC on weight and needed to gain possibly up to 200lbs. If this is what a 2/9 looks like can you imagine what a 1/9 looks like?  All in all Trooper was diagnosed with a severe heart murmur, suspensory desmitis (ankles that have been broken down and don't stand up properly) in his back ankles, and thrush in is front hooves. She checked his teeth and said he was well over due for a teeth float (which she wasn't able to do that day because she had come out on such short notice). She estimated his age at 20-25 yrs old and felt he was most likely a Paso Fino with his build and gait. She did a heavy dose of wormer that day to take care of parasites and then had to go on to her previously scheduled clients. Although he seemed to be happy, she said he should never be ridden again because of his ankles and the heart murmur. Although a tad bit bummed, we weren't surprised.

So on the vets recommendation we began feeding him freely on orchard grass, and working him up to lots of equine senior each day. We eventually added rice bran and veggie oil into the equine senior and alfalfa into his hay mix, which worked out really well.  With proper nutrition came the ability to finally shed his winter coat by mid July I believe it was, and a body that was starting to function the way it should.

We were also able to get our "barefoot" farrier out right away, Troop had very under run heals and long toes to add to the already heaping pile of problems.  Poor boy, he just wasn't getting any good reports.

Later that first week in late May I found he was loaded FULL of huge ticks that had definitely been on him for a long time, but all of us missed them when checking him over because his body cavity went up so high on the inside of his hips. I could reach up to within an inch parallel of his hip bone, on the INSIDE of his thighs (you can see the hip bone sticking out near the top of his rump in the photos).  You shouldn't be able to reach that high up on the inside of a horses thighs, they are suppose to have a ton of fat and muscle up in there. Discovering the state of his under carriage was a whole new blow.  I felt so bad for Trooper.

My awesome neighbor Sherry and her son Michael came down that day to help me remove tick after tick after tick.  Some were the size of lima beans and it was tough getting at them because they were so far and high up into his thighs.  When THAT was over we all had a serious case of the eebie jeebies, lol.  I felt like I had ticks crawling all over me the rest of the day.  I think Trooper felt much better though!

In hopes that he had just been wandering for months and that some poor family was really missing him, we went knocking on doors around the neighborhood, checked craigslist, and also checked with the pound.  We didn't find anyone who was missing him.  When calling the pound I was informed the state requires that all stray horses be fostered for around a month in order to go to through a process of giving the owner time to come forward.  If no owner comes forward they begin advertising the horse and it's condition in local papers to be put up for auction. I had no idea we couldn't just keep him if owners didn't pop up, so that process had me really nervous. The bright side was that we were allowed to keep him with us and foster him here, but I was worried sick someone would out bid us on auction day and he end up in a bad situation. Many horses are bought at auctions in this area and taken to slaughter houses in Canada to harvest.  It's a harsh process to put a pet through.  Thankfully the auction was held at our house (which is pretty far out of town) over a month later, nobody else showed up to bid, and we got to keep him for the high price of $5.00. 

Best 5 bucks I can recall spending.

This was taken 6-7-12, about two weeks after we got him. Before the auction but still so very thin.

That process with the state is a whole other story in itself, I could go on about.  I'll skip it for today.



This was taken 8-23-12. This photo and the ones below are easier to see his broken down ankles. They are pretty bad and squat down pretty low. This isn't something that can be corrected according to our vet and farrier. I've not ever had a horse with ankles like this...  Thankfully, so long as he isn't carrying much more weight, they don't bother him. So far anyway.  So for that reason we probably won't be going for the goal of adding 200lbs as the vet first estimated.

After he was finally ours we were able to float his teeth, and make the last adjustments to his food.  It was then he finally started to really put some weight on. Or then that we finally noticed it anyway.

This is what our boy looks like today (9-9-12), about 3 months after he originally found his way into the neighborhood!









Until writing this post I hadn't realized how much of a difference these 3 months have made for him.  Showing my mom today she said, "Wow, he looks so ROUND now!"  Haha.  He really is looking round now, less jagged and bony.  His hip bone still sticks out a bit, along with his spine, but his ribs are almost all hidden now.  We're all excited about the progress so far.

We've pretty much fallen head over heals for Troop, and he's made such a bond with us in return. His personality has blossomed so much in the last 3 months too.
It's always the rescues that seem to appreciate what they have so much more than the others isn't it?

Trooper has gone from disconnected but cooperative, to completely dependent and connected to our family.  He looks to me for direction, follows along for companionship, and seems to especially love when I pull his bangs out of his eyes.  He didn't do any of that when he came like he does now.  He now has a warm look of love and appreciation in his eyes, and he's one of those that wants to sit by your side and quietly just BE with you.  Does it get any better than that?  Yes it does!  My 4 and 5 year old boys can lead him around and groom him, he is so gentle and sweet. They are learning so much around him. Our mare Sage is very sweet but she is 6 and just doesn't know her own size, so I don't really trust my boys to just run around her at this point. Trooper on the other hand is so slow and steady, sweet and gentle, he is perfect for little ones to learn around.

And with hardly any weight, it doesn't hurt if someone accidently gets stepped on, lol.  That's truly the only positive I can think of with having a starved horse.

I let Trooper out of the pen during the day to graze in the lawn, and he never runs off even though he could. At the end of the day he goes to the gate and waits for me to come out of the house and let him back in the pen, I guess he likes it here enough to call it home.

Something else neat to discover is he seems to know it all, not in a haughty way, but with an old quiet wisdom. Even just his eyes alone show and old quiet and wisdom in them.  Beyond that I believe he was an amazing riding horse at one time. We've never ridden him, but figured out he knows how to neck rein, spooks at NOTHING, and knows his way around barns, farriers, tack and trailers better than any of us.  And back when he first came and colic was a much bigger risk, he moderated his food intake better than I did!  ...Our mare would eat until she burst if we let her, but Trooper just knows...

I don't know how much longer he'll live. Really, it may not be much longer.  I hope he has a few good years left in him but I don't really know at this point.  When we see he isn't happy or comfortable anymore we'll have the vet out to put him down, but we feel like God sent such a diamond in the rough to us when Trooper ended up in our neighborhood.

And that's Troopers story in just 3 months time.  People are nice and say how lucky he was to find us...  I never would have thought I'd say this about an unridable horse, but I think the blessing has really been ours.

Staying grounded.

Well our lease is about up, and all the expectations we had  have been thrown for a loop, lol.  That's life isn't it?

We have never changed our minds on getting back into the RV but God has made other plans for us, lol.

Have you ever felt like a sheep being herded?  Like each direction you wanted to take was cut off?  Or each direction you thought you were suppose to be headed in was blocked?  We've REALLY felt that way in the last few months, it was frustrating at moments, but more so exciting because we knew it was GOD guiding us the whole way through.

We've wanted to get back in the RV, but it turns out that's just an impossible goal with my dad living with us, which is rather indefinite at the moment - possibly permanent.  He's sometimes unstable on his feet and has falls occasionally after his stroke in January.  No big deal until you think about a grown man making a habit of falling on delicate RV walls, tables, chairs, etc...  So a few months ago we finally accepted we were gonna have to remain in a house.  Having dad with us is a huge blessing though, so it made the change in plans an easy one.

I was ready to continue to rent here at this house.  It's been a perfect location for so many of our families "special needs".

Without going into personal details of 2 of the members of our family and household on the world wide web, it has become more clear as time goes by what a necessity living away from town is when dealing with mental health issues.  Living so far out has helped in healing, even if it's only in small bits, instead of hindering healing.  I wish so much I could go into that further, but since those stories are not mine to tell I'll leave it at that.

Anyway, Marty really didn't want to stay here in the rental.  He wanted to go somewhere warmer.  Winters in Spirit Lake, ID are so similar to Alaskan winters, which is just what we moved out of Alaska to get away from, lol.  He really wanted to move to Florida.  So we began to look at finding a house down there.  But issues popped up with my dad again making that move impossible.  Another path blocked off by God.  I wasn't so bummed about this though - summers in Florida are a bit hot for my taste.

Soooo at that point I just wanted to stay put.  This rental is on ten acres in beautiful country and although winters kinda stink here, moving so many people in addition to the dog and 2 horses we now own wasn't sounding real fun to me.  Marty reluctantly agreed.  He didn't want to stay another winter here, but also wasn't ready to go looking for a rental in a warmer area or commit to buying a home either.  We just wanted to settle in, stay HERE and see what God had in store for our future when he was ready to reveal it.

It wasn't long, in fact a few weeks went by and we were notified the house we're living in was being put up for sale.  Ug.  Now we had to make a decision.  Stay and buy, or move...  And move where?  Buy or rent?

Marty didn't want to by this house - I was tempted because it's convenience but I didn't really wanna be stuck here for a few years - again, the winters are really what pushed us into looking elsewhere.

So after lots of praying we decided to look for a house in the Spokane, WA area or even in the Coeur D' Alene, ID area.  Both of those areas have very mild winters and are within an hour from us.  We decided we wanted a property with 10 acres (give or take an acre or two).  We found several properties that seemed like great fits, sometimes even perfect, but everytime we were ready to make an offer, even if it was a DAY after it went on the market, someone else beat us to it and had already locked the property down with an offer.  The first few times it happened I thought "well bummer, we'll get the next one."  But then it just continued on, every house getting taken off the market - fast enough to make our heads spin, I just knew God was blocking several more paths.

We were looking for a 4 or 5 bedroom house, with 10 acres - something private.  We really only need 4 bedrooms, but my dad needs his own living area, so he can get away from all of us and have some peace and quiet when he needs.  So either 5 bedrooms or 4 with a second living room.  We were hoping to find something set up for horses, but if not, Marty is fast at putting up fencing.  None of the places we were ready to make an offer on had any kind of horse set up, just the land to accommodation them.

So we were feeling very squeezed.  We're gonna have to move before winter, but there was no where to go, lol.  Not such a big deal for Marty and I.  Even the horses we could have found boarding for, but with the kids and dad, ug....  I was starting to feel quite a bit of pressure.  Which reminded me to rely on the Lord so much more.

Then by some fluke (I say that sarcastically - I'm certain God made this happen.) we were sent out another bunch of houses that were on the market.  It was from an automated search generator.  You put in your parameters, and it's all computerized and automatic from there.  It emails you when new houses come up within your search parameters.  It wasn't the only way we were searching for houses, just one.  Anyway it spit out a 3 bedroom house and emailed it to us.  Logically thinking, this made no sense - the computer shouldn't have sent us this one.  But looking at it, it seemed to have a large basement where we could possibly put up a 4th bedroom fast for my dad and still have a separate and second living area for him.  So we went to look at it.  When we got there we found that it had an office (with no closet) that wasn't listed in any of the ads or even on the realtors mls info.  How they forgot to mention this I don't know, but to me it was the 4th bedroom all ready to go!  We can add a closet later, or just put in a wardrobe or dresser and it's perfect for my dad.  I'm certain it hadn't been pounced on yet because that office wasn't listed, Praise GOD!!  It comes with 40 fenced acres, a great barn for horses and a garage my husband has always dreamed of.  There is an orchard with a variety of cherry trees, and apple tree, and a WRAP AROUND PORCH to LIVE MY DAYS out on!


This was taken when I first went out to see the house the first time.

I could go on and on and on about this house.  ON and ON.  It's truly more than we deserve. In short this was one of those moments God blocked our path at every turn, and saved the best for last.  What we thought would be perfect or fun or we could make due with - he said no to and gave us a gift far better than we had ever dreamed of.

Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? ~ Luke 12:27-28

We're so excited and will be moving in, in just a few short days.  :D

Although I'm ready to go, I shall truly miss this house in Spirit Lake.  It has been just what we needed in so many ways.  Honestly I think of this house and the land like I do a dear friend who was there for us just when we needed it most, in all the ways we needed it.  God truly set this place a side for us when we were looking for a rental a year ago and we are so grateful.  We'll always look back on our time here warmly.

Time Flies...

Wow, can't believe it's been 8 months since I've blogged. 

My poor, lonely, neglected blog...

A quick catch up: 

• Last summer we moved out of the RV and into a rental house about an hour outside of Spokane, WA so our son who has Reactive Attachment Disorder could get some specialized treatment.  We committed to doing it for a year, even though we really didn't want to leave the RV or our travels.  Although he still has a long way to go on his journey to recovery he has made a lot of progress.  We're so glad for that. 
• We've had some illness, injuries, and medical issues this winter which made being stationary helpful.
• My dad who's lived in Alaska since before I was born has moved in with us to recover from some of his own medical issues. I'm not sure if he'll be with us when we hit the road or not, but I think he'd have a blast joining us, and we definitely have the room for him in the RV.

In short, my initial hesitation in moving into this house has turned into a huge blessing.  But we are ITCHING to get back on the road.  Our lease is up at the end of July and I can't wait. 

We haven't ended up traveling with our RV except once since we've been here for the single reason of there being WAY to much snow to pull it out.  But we made due.

I hope to add some photos soon from over the fall, winter and spring so I can feel like I documented it here properly.   Hope everyone is well and enjoying spring!

Spirit Lake, Idaho

The local water tower in Spirit lake, Idaho. Cool isn't it?

Mommy & Me Interview

Just found a questionnaire for children this week and LOVE the idea.  You can interview your kids once, or do it every year to capture their thoughts and opinions.  LJ is still a tad young for this, but BJ and I did it tonight.  I laughed so hard reading his answers to Marty over the phone.  If you have little ones at home try it out, it's a hoot!  Here are just a few of my favorite answers of his...

1.  Mommy asks her child to recite his name: BJ (he recited his full name, very proudly I might add).

2.  How old are you?  "Uh..  4 years old."

6.  What do you want to be when your all grown up?  "Um, 5, I want to be 5 when I grow up."  Mom says, yes but what do you want to do for a job?  "Um, work on trucks, and get, and... fix the engines, that's what I want to do when I grow up.  Everyone needs help working on their engines."  Yes we do, good career!

8.  What's your favorite book?  "David & Goliath."  Mom says: But we don't have that book…  "The book is in the 5th wheel mommy.”  We don’t have that story book Josh…   “Mommy, it’s  in the BIBLE!"  Oh, haha, DUH.... (We DO have that book!)

12.  What is your favorite song to sing?  "Uh...  Jesus loves me, that's my favorite song to sing...  May I please sing it right now???"  LOL! 

What a little blessing he is.

Here is the link to the full list of questions, you can print it out and do it together year after year. 

I'm also thinking I will start snapping a yearly shot like this to go with our interview - maybe even do this around their birthdays:

Only I'm thinking I'll have the kids stand in front of our white board (instead of laying down on a blanket) with their age written over their heads.

Anyway, hope you enjoy!

From Home to House.

I've been avoiding this post...





I'm not sure where to start, or even how much to say so I guess I'll just start here.


Welcome to our new temporary rental home.

Lovely isn't it?



It turns out we will be staying in the Spokane area over the winter so one of the boys can can get some medical attention.  Everyone is fine.  No death, cancer or anything like that.  Just some work in hopes of making life easier for one of the kids. 

We're really (REALLY) bummed to have to take a break from our traveling but feel VERY blessed to be able to travel right to where the best of medical specialist are.

So why have we rented a house?  We certainly didn't need to move out of the 5th wheel, it's perfect for us.  We think of it as our home.   The problem is that sometimes the close proximity of neighbors in an RV park can be difficult with a special needs child.  Nothing that's a really big deal, or anything we haven't been able to work around but since we're stuck here for such a spell we decided to look for something with more space and privacy - stretch out and make things easier because we can.

We had hoped to find some private property to park the 5th wheel on, but nothing was available like that.  So we moved on to rental properties and found this house just across the boarder from Spokane, on the western side of Idaho.  It's on a few acres, no neighbors around, a shop for Marty to tinker in, an extra room for me to craft in, hummingbirds visiting everyday, deer running through the back yard, coyotes  howling in the night and moles running amuck in the back yard - we're really enjoying it. Ok we could do without the moles, but then, they are kinda neat for us Alaskans.  Kinda.

We were picky about choosing a rental, and this place has everything we could ask for to help life run smooth while we're here.

We are not done with traveling, nor are we done with our 5th wheel.  We still plan to travel as much as possible on weekends and in between appointments.

-------------------------------------------

Our boys usually always call the 5th wheel just that, the 5th wheel.  But since we've moved out, they now call it "home".  They only refer to the rental as "the house".  Although we're in this house to make things easier for this temporary time in our lives, our hearts remain with the RV. 

As they should.  :D

Rooms for Royalty

I was recently going through old photo's and found these...





My uncle owns a construction company back in Indiana.  A few years ago when I flew down for a visit he took me to one of the houses he built. It was one of the show houses they made available to the public for the Parade of Homes.  In each closet there is a ladder that leads up to a reading/play loft.

The owners had requested these two custom rooms for their kids, didn't they turn out just heavenly? 

Kefir Grains: How To's and Health Benefits.

I've been using real kefir grains for several months now to make kefir and have found the health benefits and nutritional value to be amazing.  I got mine from friends, and have sent some out to others since (you can't buy the real thing in the store).  Unfortunately they don't come with written instructions when a friend sends some to you and because I've been giving grains to more people lately, I thought I'd put a post together on what to do.

If your interested in knowing more about kefir and their health benefits I'll leave that up to the experts...

• Patty Donovan wrote "Grow Your Own Probiotics, Part 1: Kefir" back in 2008.  Awesome article.
• Dominic Anfiteatro has a webpage with an overload of info.  I love that he lists different probiotic strains, yeast strains, recipes, and much more. 
• One more website has awesome recipes and further info on how to's.

So with all that out of the way, this is how it goes down...


This is everything you'll need for making kefir.  Mason jars and some type of cloth or napkin (I use coffee filters) are perfect but you can use any glass or plastic container.  Some folks say there is a risk in killing the kefir grains if you use metal so I stick with glass and plastic when messing with this stuff to be safe.

SOURCE: You can either get grains from a friend who has some, or you can order them online.  You can't buy the real thing in the store though.  You CAN get a starter pack in the store, but they will die after a handful of uses and from what I understand don't have all the nutritional benefits and vitamins that the real grains have.  So however you get your Real grains, they will either come ready to go or dehydrated.

MILK VARIETIES:

• You can use any kind of milk, but if you want your grains to continue to live and produce kefir you have to use milk from a mammal of some kind.  Cows, goats....  Whole milk is best, raw milk is even better.  I've even used the pasteurized, homogenized milk before but the health benefits go much further with better quality milk. 
• You can even culture other types of milk such as soy or coconut milk, but use spare grains for milk that doesn't come from a mammal because the grains will eventually die off in that kind of milk. 

(And by spare grains I should add here that the grains tend to double in size about once a week.) 

ENVIRONMENTAL TEMPERATURES make a difference in the speed at which they reproduce.  The warmer side of room temperature will speed up growth of grains and kefir liquid production, the cooler side of room temperature will slow them down.  You can send the extra grains to friends, or double the health benefits by adding them to your smoothies.



This is what real Hydrated kefir grains look like.  If yours are Dehydrated you'll want to continue milk changes daily until they start working.  It may take a few days to a week to bounce back after shipping to where it's producing liquid kefir like it should.


So the first thing you do with your kefir grains is put them into a jar of milk.  You'll want to give 1 to 1 & 1/2 cups of milk per tablespoon of kefir grains (I never do exact measurements).  You don't want to seal the jar because the yeast fermentation will build up pressure, which is why I use the coffee filter to cover the top of the mason jar.  The filter (or napkin) allows it to breath and yet keeps things from falling into the jar.  Use milk straight from the fridge (no need to let it warm) and store jar out of direct sunlight for 12 - 24 hours, stirring a few times a day.


This is what it should look like after 24 hours - I just stirred it.  See how it looks above the milk line?  That's how it's suppose to look, kinda particlely and grainy.  If it isn't stirred it will build up pockets of clear liquid called kefir whey, the white will become extremely thick.  It's best to stir it so the grains don't suffocate in the thick stuff.  By stirring it, you are helping more lactose to get to the grains, which is what the grains eat and need to survive.



This is another angle of stirred, 24 hour kefir.  The big chunks you see are the grains, as they like to float when their at their best.  The liquid kefir should look grainy or with tiny chunks after stirring it although it's hard to see here, it will also be rather like the consistency of a melted milkshake - thicker liquid than just milk.  If you leave a glass of milk out on the counter for 24 hours it does not look thick and particley like the liquid kefir does, it stays like milk and only shows a milk ring around the glass at the top of the milk line.  If your kefir stays like milk after leaving it out, better skip ingesting it until the kefir grains are turning out liquid kefir as they should.  It's pretty hard to kill your kefir grains so if they aren't working as they should, just keep changing their milk daily and they will bounce back pretty quickly.

If you are using to much milk your liquid kefir won't turn out thick or as grainy (which is ok if you want thinner consistency).

One last bit of helpful information is how to store your grains when you need a break from producing kefir, or when your going on vacation.  Yvette Sajem wrote a great article on just how to do this.

I plan on adding a few more posts with recipes, ways to boost the vitamins and probiotics and hopefully stories of how this stuff can help in specific ways.  Just look for posts tagged "Kefir" which you can find by looking in the right hand column under the "Tags" heading.

Loft Remodel

We've been meaning to fix up the loft so LJ can have his own room, but I've really held back because safety was a big concern.  He's still so young and the loft is pretty high up.

I've been letting him play up there for months but only when I was able to keep my eyes on him without distractions.  He does wonderfully up there but I wasn't ok with him sleeping up there until we had a few things figured out.

Now that he can scale the ladder faster and with more confidence than I can, I felt we were ready to move forward. 


Two issues here.  The accordion door and the queen mattress.

Our first big problem was the door.  This photo above was taken when we first got the RV and if you look, you can see the accordion door folded away on the right side of the loft opening.  If LJ were to roll out of bed (which is rare), and roll over to the door, that little accordion door would not hold him in at all.  It is, after all just flimsy cloth.  I figured we needed a solid barrier to keep him from rolling out - and a proper door to the loft would also serve as a better sound barrier than cloth.  I really wanted to use Tambour which is what they use for roll top desks, but unfortunately that plan didn't come together so well.  We may still do it in the future but for now we just built sliding doors.

Errr...

Marty built sliding doors.


The doors are on tracks at the bottom and top so they won't swing out.  If you roll against these puppies, their solid and won't let you fall out.  We put weather stripping on the sides and trim on the bottom to seal the light out. Actually we still need to add one last trim piece to the top on the outside here.  We also notched out holes in the trim and put magnets in the door and door frame to hold the doors closed when we're traveling down the road.  The magnets are really powerful, but LJ can still pull the doors open so that worked out really well.

The other problem was that queen bed.  Ugh, that. bed...  I really really really loathed making that bed.  If you wonder why, let me challenge you to making any bed without actually getting off the bed for 75% of the making.  And then having to do it crouched over for all 100% of the making because the head room is cut short.  LJ is just way to small for a queen bed anyway.  So we moved that mattress into the garage and stacked on top of the top bunk where it's up and out of the way.  We don't use the bunks in the garage at all, they stay lifted up against the ceiling leaving loads of room to walk around so that was a good spot for the mattress.  Should we end up needing it, it's still around.


Next we went to Home Depot and picked up some soft puzzle flooring that doesn't hurt your knees to crawl around on.  The puzzle flooring is thin and by taking out the mattress we gained a pleasant amount of headroom up there.  Well, LJ can sit on the floor or the bed and not have to worry about hitting his head, so it's really Marty and I that are excited about more headroom up there.  We love reading stories at bedtime up there and the occasional moments of goofing off.

After the floor was finished we put his toddler mattress up there and toy box.  For added safety we put one of our video/audio baby monitor cameras up there on the door until we were able to purchase door alarm dingers.  The alarm doesn't lock him in the room, but notifies us in the middle of the night should he wake up and open one of the doors.  We are so happy with this set up and more importantly LJ is over the moon for his new space.  Even though he's been allowed to play up there for months, it was never super exciting to him until now.

I'd still like to add some extra touches, like curtains and maybe some little boy wall art, but for the most part, this is it.

I give you LJ's new room...


The cabinets and shelf in between are just extra places to keep his toys and drive his cars on. 




The tote to the right is his toy box.


And here you have a small window into his imagination.  Cars, cars, cars.

RV Modifications & Add-ons

I had to share a couple neat ideas I've seen around the RV park lately.


This is our neighbors RV.  See the pipe with the white cap?  He took some regular pvc pipe (4"?), mounted under his RV and now stores his sewer hoses in there.  Great idea, those hoses now have their own space, and can't accidentally contaminate anything else in the storage area.  Perfect.

I was thinking you could also use one for fishing rods, the tie-down bracket/rods that are suppose to go in our garage, and anything long and awkward like that.

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Another thing I've been noticing...


These are "RV Vent Covers".  I was so excited to discover these on several of our neighbors RV's!

With no vent covers, every time it rains you have to close your vents, even if it's sweltering outside and you need that vent and fan pulling in a breeze.  And if you don't have a fantastic fan that automatically closes when it senses water, you can count on coming home to a wet floor or a wet spare bed at some point in your future.

So with the covers, you just mount them over your vents and never worry again.  EVEN if you hit the road forgetting you left your vent wide open (which I've already done since we got the covers) it doesn't hurt a thing.  Vent covers allow your fans to pull in a breeze, keeps the rain OUT, and it has screens on the vent cover in addition to the screen the vent itself already has, so you end up with a double bug barrier.

I LOVE the RV vent covers and they come at a great price.  If you don't have one for your RV, I'd highly recommend running out and picking some up.

Happy Independence Day!

I busted a little food coloring out this morning and tossed it in some pancake mix, it was fun cooking and the boys loved their stack of pancakes.

We colored American flags today, had red (strawberries), white (whipped cream) and blue (blueberries) parfaits for lunch, and fire works in the middle.  It was a fun day.

Hope yours was just as special.  :D

Nettles pack power as ‘people’s medicine’

Published Tuesday, June 25th 2011

Nettles pack power as ‘people’s medicine’

• Alaska’s wild plant expert Janice Schofield pays Homer a visit, plans a new herbal medicine book based on native flora
By Naomi Klouda
Homer Tribune

Janice Schofield

The backyard, full of dandelions, horsetails, devil’s club and nettles may seem more problem than gift. But each of those plants has a use that is power-packed for health.

Consider that in Japan, devil’s club was literally loved to death. Today, the plant needs to be imported because widespread use as a healing herb has nearly wiped them out, said Janice Schofield, a foremost authority on Alaska’s wild plants who made a visit to Homer to host an edible plant workshop last week.
Nettles are shy plants often found behind or shaded by large wild shrubs. Hikers know the sting and the burning itch of bare-skin contact. Horsetails, that ancient plant that shows up in fossil records from the dinosaur era, can be used to immediately counteract the sting by scrubbing it across the irritated area.

Nettles offer a powerhouse for remedies to keep a prostate healthy, cure a urinary track infection and inhibit bleeding, said Schofield, author of “Discovering Wild Plants” and “Alaska’s Wild Plants.” Her first acquaintance with the weeds began here in Kachemak Bay in the early 1980s. She spent a year studying nettles. “I realized I was only at the tip of the iceberg – there is such a long relationship between humans and nettles.”

In her fascination, Schofield wrote an entire book, “Nettles,” in the Keats Good Herb Guide series, that currently is out of print and in want of a new publisher.

The book goes into great detailed explanation of the plant’s chemical properties and how they function. Teens may want to try a nettle concoction to help alleviate acne. The fresh-pressed juice of nettle plants is laden with chlorophyll and other nutrients. In France, nettles are used as medical treatment for mild to moderate acne. Here’s an explanation she presents from an herbalist: “Since the blood must maintain its slightly alkaline pH and since nearly all the waste products the body produces are acid, something like nettle tea helps to add electrolytes and alkali to assist the buffering system when under stress, and nettle specifically helps increase the transport and excretion of blood nitrogen waste products.”

For this reason, a cup of nettle tea one to three times a day can help relieve acne and other painful skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis. Even arthritis can be relieved by ingesting nettles as a tonic. The juice can be preserved by adding 10 percent grain alcohol or 25 percent brandy. Or, Schofield recommends, freeze the fresh juice in ice cube trays and thaw one as needed.

When hiking in summer, any number of mishaps can occur in the outdoors. It might come in handy to know that nettles can inhibit bleeding because it is an astringent and tightens tissues. Nettle powder can be sprinkled on cuts to aid in coagulation.

Schofield also found research that credits a mixture of burdock and nettles (half and half) taken as a tea eases premenstrual syndrome. Nettle root has been used to treat enlarged or irritated prostates. Drinking nettle tea during pregnancy (be sure to get nettles in the early spring only) aids health and afterward, helps nursing mothers produce milk. Nettle seeds, which contain oils and traces of formic acid, can be used as a scalp conditioner and hair-growth stimulant for people who have undergone chemotherapy. Take a teaspoon of seeds, soak in a cup of hot water for twenty minutes and use as a rinse after shampooing, recommends herbalist Michael Moore in Schofield’s research.

Young plants are best
The only case of a person dying or becoming ill from nettle use that Schofield knows of occurred in Australia where a species of nettles is a dangerous rainforest dweller. Contact with the razor sharp hairs burn for weeks and months even. But the Alaska variety is safe if taken in its prime. Later in the season, when the plant’s leaves are larger than two-inches in diameter and it starts flowering, it becomes unhealthy.

“If you are observing the plant, it will tell you if it’s the right time to use it,” Schofield said. “When it’s young, it’s vibrant and juicy. As it’s older, it becomes courser and dry, constricting fluids and juices.”

Nettles are best used in the spring, when the plant is 10-12 inches high. But if you have a grove of nettles in the yard that you have used as the season progresses, they tend to replenish themselves and can be harvested all summer. Look for the small new growths in a nettle grove that may be hidden by the more mature stalks. Plants in use tend to oblige humans by growing back more plentifully. “After they flower, the plant becomes more irritating to the urinary track. Once bugs get into the nettles, the harvest is over,” she advises.

How Scholfield began
Schofield came to know Alaska’s herbs and write numerous articles and books on the subject because there was so little out there. In 1980, she and her husband moved to the head of Kachemak Bay and later they lived by Red Mountain. She had earned her degree in home economics and felt a keen curiosity about the nettle groves around her, as well as other plants she found fascinating like wild roses, dandelions and devils club. What could they be used for? Few books were available to help answer her extensive curiosity, so she decided to write one. Her quest took her all over the state, seeking out traditional Alaska Native uses and researching herbalists’ works and scientific findings from around the globe. Thirty years and thousands of pages later, Schofield is highly sought out as probably Alaska’s foremost expert on wild plants. Her workshop, co-hosted with Nancy Lee Evans, was attended by 24 people.

“What you see now is the byproduct of trial and error, flops and successful attempts,” Schofield said in an interview with the Homer Tribune. Now she lives in New Zealand, and is writing another book, “Health Plants of Alaska.” Sadly, much of the manuscript burned in a fire that destroyed her home earlier this year.
Her trip to Homer was the first trip back to her beloved Kachemak Bay in four years.

Weeds and wild plants tend to be taken for granted- or attacked with strong killing sprays – but Alaskans probably shouldn’t do that, she said. “The pureness and availability makes Alaska plants very healthy. Other places don’t always have these plants. Dandelions, for example – they don’t grow in the wild in New Zealand.”

Devil’s club was wiped out in Japan because the stems and roots are found to be beneficial as a medicine to regulate sugar levels, as in diabetes, and also to regulate blood pressure.

“This is the people’s medicine, these weeds. It’s to use for health, not just as a medicine which is what you need when you are sick. It keeps you in balance, strengthens immunity – its how to keep your family, kids and animals healthy.”

To start with, Schofield recommends getting to know 10 plants around your yard. Many in Homer contain dandelions, devils club, cow parsley (puski), nettles, horsetail, wild roses, raspberry plants and fireweed. All of these have specific uses.

“They form a community of plants, an ecosystem, and a good reason to not eradicate them through weed killers is because once one is gone, the community health of plants suffer,” she said. “They keep the landscape healthy.”


HOMER TRIBUNE/Naomi Klouda - An abundance of local recipes for nettle use are shared in Homer. Lasse Holmes creates a Nettle Creme Tonic beer; Two Sister’s Bakery Owner Carrie Thurman makes a nesto pesto. Public Health Nurse Bonnie Betley makes pasta of nettles and the Kilcher family is credited with many other suggested uses. Schofield lists many in her books as well.

A commenter to the article also left this added bit of helpful information:

As a big herbal medicine aficionado, I try to make all my own herbal tinctures as well. My favorite reference is Charles Kane’s Herbal Medicine-Trends and Traditions…a fantastic herbal resource book. It’s the only herbal I’ve seen to have tincture-making worksheets, and the proper alc/water percentages and dosages for 400+ herbs…highly recommended as a medicine-makers manual.

Hopscotch!

Today we hung around the RV park and played hopscotch for the first time with the boys.  They had so much fun but Pete (the dog) really wanted to join in.  He kept going and laying down right in the middle of it all, lol.  I had to make him get up and move more times than I can count.

Had to share, as it was loads of old fashion fun we'll definitely be doing again.  If your like me and have forgotten how to play, there are directions for the original game of hopscotch here.

Photo Hunt Day!

Today we had to drive Marty into the airport so he could fly back to work.  Although I wouldn't trade his work schedule in for a million town jobs, I can't wait for 2 weeks to fly by and see him again.

On the ride home the kids and I decided to have a little fun and go on a photo hunt.  I told them if they saw something weird, wacky, wild, fun or neat we would stop the truck and get a picture of them next to their find.  Whatever it was it had to be something that really drew their eye in.

I had to help our 3 yr old find things but it was SO interesting seeing the world according to my 4 year old.  He choose several beautiful old churches and cathedrals, showing me he has an eye for architecture!  I am always drawn to houses, and Marty doesn't really care so much about building character so this was truly seeing BJ's taste come out.  Maybe in 20 years or so he can turn this architecture appeal into a career!  We took TONS of photos that won't make it to this blog because the kids are in them, but here are a few photos we took with nobody in them.


LJ is really REALLY into trucks, so this was one of the neat things I helped him find.


We were checking out a church BJ found when he started hollering about "SHOES!!!"


One of BJ's picks.  What child wouldn't be drawn to this?


Both of the boys were excited to see a plane crash into a roof - I made sure and told them it wasn't real but just staged.


LJ loved this old truck.

I wish I could share the other shots, they were so much better, but you get the idea.  We had such a good time doing this, I'd love to put together a photo album with just photos from this little adventure.  And it was Cheap fun!

Hot Rod Cafe

3/20/12 UPDATE: Hot Rod Cafe closed their doors and went out of business in either February or March of 2012. Such a BUMMER - as it was such a great place to go. Here's to hoping someone will eventually resurrect this place when economic times are better.

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We've been staying at the Coeur D' Alene RV Resort in Post Falls, Idaho for about a week.  We had hoped to find a good park in Spokane, or Spokane Valley but found that many weren't all that great.  No place to open your awning and let the kids play, or no yard, or just bad locations.  We finally found the park here in Post Falls and fell in love with it.  They have an amazing staff, an indoor swimming pool, exercise room and the whole park is really well kept.

If your in the area you can find them at:
2652 East Mullan Avenue
Post Falls, ID 83854
(208) 773-3527

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Anyway just down the road is the neatest little cafe!


The parking lot alone is fun to drive through, even on a slow day.








Love this car, very stealth.


1934 Ford

We actually saw much more in the parking lot but I'll stop here and show you inside.


This is their waiting area.  The boys were happy as clams to sit here!


The entrance/exit.








This was an ice-cream station you could access from the other side, the boys went and checked it out while I took the other photos.


And when you order a children's meal, they bring the fries in these lovely fry baskets, aren't they neat looking?

We have several other photos of the Hot Rod Cafe if you'd like to see them.

It's a great place to stop in and have a meal (the food is pretty good), they also have weekend car shows all the time in the parking lot.  In fact at one point during a drive by we saw huge smoke plumes and on closer look from the highway discovered it wasn't some enormous building caught fire, but people smoking their tires during a car show, lol!

Anyway if your in the area and want to stop in, the Cafe can be found at:
1610 Schneidmiller Avenue
Post Falls, ID 83854-7065
(208) 777-1712