Here and Now... and Then

NEPA Blogs

2012-01-25T08:43:00.003-05:00

A snowy view of North Mountain from my window is up this morning as the new header on NEPA Blogs. I think they rotate headers about every Wednesday or so. If you are in the area it is worth checking their blogroll (right hand column) from time to time to see the full spectrum of local commentary, photography, writing, recipes, fashion, etc.

If you know of additional blogs they should add, be sure to pass on the addresses. And send in your header images! Dillon from Old Tioga Farm has had some beautiful pastoral scenes posted featured there.

renovations

2012-01-23T11:30:00.003-05:00

The interior of our home is undergoing some renovations, as always. The walls were hollow—just wood siding, beams, and wallpapered horse hair plaster-- covered with layers of pressed cardboard strangeness and tacky paneling below the old windows.

Adam put 2” extruded polystyrene foam insulation in a huge freeform jigsaw puzzle matrix and next will be gradually covering that with MDF paneling. The panelling will get primed and painted and the room will look quite different. The old walls were lumpy, drafty, water-stained, and cracked. When this massive job is complete, we think they will look great. In grey. Apparently, grey is the new beige. The room needs something neutral that will reflect the warm light coming from the yellow stained glass and not clash with all the warm wood tones. It will really look classy, or as I have been saying, “sick” (in the best possible way).

Papa’s little helpers think the scaffolding is fun. They spent a solid hour loading washer onto screws. Somebody is grooming his future apprentice(s).

incubator therapy

2012-01-20T10:07:00.005-05:00

Things have been quiet here in my little corner of the internet. It has been a confusing and distressing pile of days. I was 12 weeks pregnant last Tuesday when I drove to see my midwife for a prenatal checkup. We had been moderately mum with the news, and I was anxious to hear a heartbeat with her doppler apparatus. No heartbeat was found, but she said that my uterus seemed sized appropriately for dates. Well, within 48 hours, I miscarried. The cramping was as rhythmic and regular as unmediated labor. Everyone I consulted when day broke instructed me to go to the ER, but when we arrived outside the hospital we decided to head home instead, since the worse seemed to be past. Home to bed to rest, we went, where I sucked down fluids was waited on, gratefully. I’m fortunate to have a ER doc in the family to give me prompt caring and trusted advice. Friends and family have been very very sweet --sending flowers and bringing good food, emailing messages and calling.
I’ve felt sort of like a yo-yo, up and down and in between. The tears of hormonal whiplash. Fascinating random thoughts fill my muddled brain, like: the iron in our blood that dyes it that amazing shade of red came from a supernova, the luminous death of a star.

In a well-timed bit of homesteader retail therapy, we recently purchased a hovabator poultry incubator. In a stroke of genius, my wonderful husband suggested to me, while I was sequestered in bed, that perhaps I should order some hatching eggs. Brilliant! Yesterday, in the depths of my funk, the last of the eggs arrived.

We saved a few unfrozen eggs from our flock, plus the eggs from ebay that came in the mail: barred rocks from Alabama, red stars (although the seller called them golden buffs) from Ohio, and hybrid heavy mixed breed eggs from Louisiana. They’re all in the incubator now. In a week I can candle them to see the embryos forming and in February, even with a low hatch rate expected due to the cold weather and high mileage shipping, we ought to have some fluffy peeps in time for Valentine’s day.

WTH, DEP?

2012-01-11T10:36:00.005-05:00

After reading a couple recent headlines, methinks the PA DEP should spend more time minding their own business (like the newly announced faulty well casings in Lennox, PA by Cabot), and less time writing snarky letters to the EPA. Redundant oversight is a good thing for the drilling industry.

Citizens Voice: Report: Pa. data missing nearly 500 gas wells (AP, Published: January 10, 2012):

"The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (http://bit.ly/weuty8) reported that an analysis of DEP data found 495 more wells producing gas, or ready to produce gas, than the DEP has recorded as ever being drilled, and that 182 of those wells don't even show up on the state's Marcellus Shale permit list.
……
The DEP says that since 2007 there have been about 4,200 wells drilled in Pennsylvania, so the 495 missing wells is about a 12 percent error rate on data that are widely quoted by politicians, environmentalists and the industry."

Crochet Carrot and Santa Hats

2012-01-05T16:17:00.002-05:00

Well, hello 2012! Winter seems to get me in the mood for curling up with some yarn and a hook. These are some of the things I created in December. Next time I should keep track and make a pattern! The carrot was for my nephew’s new play kitchen but would also be fun for a baby to chew on, I bet. These patient and handsome models are displaying slightly different versions of the Santa hat. Both are based on Lion brand homespun yarn. The one on the right has thick & quick bulky white trim, the one on the left is trimmed in ivory with a puff stitch. They seem to change every time. A couple (for the ladies) were embellished with a picot border.

O Tannenbaum

2011-12-24T10:51:00.004-05:00

Carol performed by the Vienna Boys Choir

This twenty-some foot tall juniper tree lived in our garden, where it cast some unwanted shade, of course. Then Hurricane Irene came along and gave it a funky tilt. I’ve been wanting to save it for a Christmas tree, but was briefly quite sorry when we dragged the top fourteen feet or so of it into the house and attempted to get it to stand up. It is now safely suspended from the timberfame above, and wired to the wall. Finally got some of those LED lights and our five year old delighted in decorating the tree with a mishmash of ornaments from a ladder. When she was finished at last, she stood back to admire her work and tears sprang to her eyes.

Family is en route for the holiday, the bread oven is fired up, and it should be fun watching the girls tear into gifts tomorrow. As usual I didn’t get everything done, there are unfinished projects and many cards never got sent. Never enough time, it seems.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EvERYONE!

From our house to YOurs

May the new year bring good things

and the baby turned three

2011-12-20T18:01:00.002-05:00

My best-Christmas-present-ever turned three on Sunday. We had a pizza party, with some friends, family, and thirty blue balloons. I (successfully) baked a chocolate cake, decorated with strawberries per her request. She has so much personality, this little gal. It was a happy day in Mossville.

Reminder: life is fragile

2011-12-15T09:13:00.011-05:00

(photos from LKsporthorses.com)

I met Lesley at my brother’s in MD, and discovered that we both once rode ponies and horses at the same farm (near Sugartown, PA), which exists now only as a magical place in my girlhood memories. She was a horsewoman and a great person, and I admired her. She died last night, two weeks after a freak accident in the barn where a horse she was clipping kicked her in the jaw.

It is so very sad. She had three children and a loving husband. She will be missed. I’m posting this in memory of her. Here’s a tribute from someone who rode with Lesley. Another tribute is here. (And if anyone in the Mid-Atlantic happens to be googling “Horse for Sale in Maryland”, here are a trio of lovely Thoroughbred horses for sale.)

I sent this (part of a) letter to her husband yesterday:

Dear Lesley-

I didn't know you all that well, but you were one of my favorite faces
to see at Jaime's brews. Selfishly, I was looking forward to tagging along to the barn with you someday.
Ever since I heard that you once rode at Roselawn Farm, as I did as a kid, I felt that we had a neat connection there. I saw your horses online yesterday- and they are so gorgeous. There were photos of you too, working with the horses and you look just as I think of you: so happy and enjoying a life lived to its fullest.
I enjoyed all of our talks about motherhood, horses, and dogs. When I think of you it will help me to chase the good things in life, to seek out the best and juiciest bits and not to shrink away. I fondly remember your laugh and your smile.

I keep thinking back to seeing you and John resting on the couch one afternoon after a day at Jaime's, you had fallen asleep next to him and you looked so content and peaceful. I hope that peace is with you
now. You are very much loved.

Putting light all around you in my heart,
Nicole

EPA says fracking likely polluted Wyoming water | Reuters

2011-12-08T15:11:00.001-05:00

EPA says fracking likely polluted Wyoming water | Reuters:

By Timothy Gardner

WASHINGTON | Thu Dec 8, 2011 2:15pm EST

Fluids from a company employing a drilling technique known as "fracking" likely polluted an aquifer in Wyoming, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in a draft report that countered industry claims the technique has never led to water contamination.

The EPA said "the best explanation" for the pollution seen in the deep monitoring wells in Pavillion, Wyoming, is a release of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, fluids into the aquifer above the production zone. The pollution includes benzene, alcohols and glycols, the report said.

click top link (blue title) to read entire article- it is a short one)

'via Blog this'

Coil Rig and Storage tanks at Williams' Natural Gas well in Benton, PA 6/2010

crochet catch-up

2011-12-02T13:11:00.004-05:00

Crochet things made over many months: sunhats, bright earflap hat,
fingerless gloves ala Speckless, cowl

Nanowrimo out

2011-11-30T14:03:00.001-05:00

Well, shockingly enough to me, I achieved my goal of 50,000 words in 30 days. I’m feeling a bit numb, but pleased. This word-baby is by no means done, and I feel more shy about the product than proud.

Do I feel like a novelist? Well shucks, It’s not a real novel yet. So, not really.

Whew. Now back to making presents, housework, homeschooling and the like.

And in case you are curious, this first draft starts like this:

The first inkling of the ordeal that was to come was a story on the evening news. The New Year was still fresh, and the video showed a corpulent, distraught woman whose water well had exploded, causing heavy debris to rain down and damage her home.

And ends like this, some 40,000 words later:

Before long, she could hear Ada calling for her. Eve stopped to pick a handful of black raspberries from the edge of the yard on her way back into the house.

update from the coop

2011-11-19T12:42:00.005-05:00

If you compare the sizes of these eggs, and their yolks, you’ll notice one is tiny. That’s because it is one of the very first eggs from our pullets that we hatched in the incubator this summer. Three young buff-colored chicken ladies survived “the purge”.

Below is the little blue chick, all grown up, grandchicken of a Blue Andalusian rooster. We now have four roosters and 19 hens. Thanks to Eggzy, I was able to get an accurate accounting of the current flock.
Taking stock, I realized we were missing a hen. I found her remains (bottom photo). So,unfortunately, it is curtains for Rosy, a special Red Star hen. I wonder what got to her. Click here to see her with her peeps, the sole surviving chick of the pair turned out to be this barred blue rooster’s dad.

book cover as motivational tool

2011-11-14T08:27:00.003-05:00

Closing in on halfway to 50,000 words in this challenge of National Novel Writing Month, I figured that creating a faux book cover might be a helpful gambit to getting my daily words in.

I’m finding it to be difficult to write and type the 1,667 words needed per day to stay on target. Characters need fleshing out, plot needs to emerge, suspense needs ratcheting up.

But this little carrot makes it seen like a (more) real possibility. Apparently, authors who chose to self publish to Kindle and Nook can create their own covers, so I figured what the heck.

Time to clean the house and write a book. It’s simultaneously thrilling and frightening to even type that! Back to business.

Veterans Day

2011-11-11T10:22:00.005-05:00

In honor of Veterans day, here is a transcription by my sister of an old audio recording made by our dad, who was a Navy pilot during the Vietnam war. These are scans of his slides. I’m sure that the place names and technical abbreviations are approximated based on her best guess. Thank you, Sara.

Thank you, veterans.

These events occurred on my 10th logistic missions in country. I had arrived 15 days previous and the day in question was Thanksgiving. At the time we were operating direct from Tam Sam Phut(Nhut or Vhut) to Camau. The weather that day was on the stormy side and multi-layered. As we crossed the first river between Dong Tam and Long Phu we had attempted to contact VINH LONG metro without success. We were forced even lower after the 2nd river. I was flying and in the right seat and Lee told me to pick up some speed. He intended to find PHUNG HIEP and fly the canal to CAMAU.

My first indication of anything amiss was the port M-60 opening up with a short burst. Next Lee yelled something and told me to get out of there before I knew he had left his seat and gone aft. I pulled up into a climbing right turn and we were in clouds almost immediately. Our crew-chief Garza had put a tourniquet on Lee’s left leg and before I knew it he was back in his seat. By the time he got back I was having a little trouble controlling the aircraft and the turbulence wasn’t helping. I yelled to Lee for some assistance and he pointed to our attitude gyros, which were both showing OFF flags. I went to a partial panel scan and attempted to level the wings and erect the turn needle. Glancing back at Lee I noted he had passed out and was slumped over in his seat and quite pale. There seemed to be an up-load in the collective and my torque indicators didn’t respond to collective movement, by that time I was around 2,000 ft still in cloud and beginning to doubt whether I was going to be able to manage the aircraft. Noting 95% NR I decided this was pushing my luck and I had better try and put her down, I dropped the collective and started looking for a hole. Eventually I broke out at around 500 ft and spotted a small canal, rice fields, and a fairly large building in the foliage along the canal and decided the closer I was to civilization the better. Landing was fairly soft all the SAS was beginning to get wobbly. On landing I secured the engines and applied the rotor brake – we were sitting fairly level. For a moment I debated starting the APP, as I was uncertain how far from the point we took fire we had traveled.

It soon occurred to me that I hadn’t had time to get out a mayday on the way down and I knew I had to radio back and chance the bad guys homing in on the noise. At first I concentrated on the aircraft radios broadcasting mainly on UHF and putting the IFF in EMERG. Lee had awakened when I called his name after landing. A corpsman we luckily had aboard extracted Lee from his seat and we laid him on the deck with his feet slightly inclined. We had gotten the passengers down and the corpsman was doing what he could for Lee and the two passengers who had more minor wounds. Eventually we set up one survival radio on beeper and listened intermittently. The first contact we were able to establish was CA MOI on HF and we started relaying through them.

I decided it was best we keep everyone inside the aircraft and we distributed the few weapons we had. After about ½ hour we thought we heard some DV-10s overhead but the rain and clouds came in again and we never saw them. As we sat we eventually saw movement in the tree line along the canal and I passed the word not the fire unless we were opened up on. Lee came to from time to time and once was able to give the last team position off 115 he could remember. Eventually we made contact with the locals through some of the VN (Vietnamese) aboard and got the name of the village and the grid co-ordinates. We were told there was a PF camp close by and I asked them to set up a perimeter for us but was unable to verify that they did. After an hour we had a couple of HUEYS overhead and with the FLT surgeon from HAL-3. The wounded were put out a short time later. Weather was still hampering efforts to find us, the A/C blended in too well with the rice paddy, and the other aircraft was having difficulty homing on the beeper probably because we kept it inside the A/C. Finally about 2 hours on the ground a Jolly Green came in. Through CA MUI I had been relaying to base. I checked with the Jolly HAC to see how much time he could spare on deck as I had been told to get the radio since we weren’t sure whether we could get the bird out. HAC said he had taken some hits coming in and showed one FUEL GAUGE showing empty to prove. After a few trips we had the guns, ammo, and most of the radio gear parked out and the 53 lifted the last 11 of us out.

Greetings from NaNoWriMo

2011-11-09T08:48:00.001-05:00

In case anyone is wondering, I am chugging away at my November writing project. I hit 13,525 words but need to get ahead so that Thanksgiving doesn't find me all cranky, hunched over typing in a corner when I should be relaxing with relatives and enjoying a long meal. My little sister is flying in from California, so I'd better buy some time off from this insanity of spewing words at an alarming rate. Judging by all the people adding me on Google+, there are a ton of other crazies also trying to hit 50,000 words this month.I've been finding the occasional raunchy/ funny pep talk here and seem to have the best luck getting words out while sitting outside, in the garden, far away from this addictive, time-sucking internet and my pesky offspring. Ok, time to fold some laundry, make pancakes, go for a walk, and WRITE!

putting in (Amherst Island, Ontario)

2011-10-27T13:52:00.002-04:00

before we had kids, when our dogs were like children
we set out in a canoe, to the blue

to the landless wet beyond, while the dogs roamed the shores
the lake like an ocean, liquid lapping wet stone

Zombies Occupy Dimock

2011-10-26T10:07:00.004-04:00

I won’t make it to this one, but I would like to see this area with my own eyes at some point, and meet the people living there.

Sunday, October 30th, 4-7 p.m. Dimock Baptist Church and Carter Rd.
Rt. 29 S. (blinking light in Dimock) and Rt.2024, Dimock, PA 18816

The PA DEP has agreed to allow Cabot Oil & Gas to stop providing fresh water to the people in Dimock who have contaminated water.
This sets a precedence for water contamination cases in PA.
What if this was YOUR water?

All Zombies are invited to Dimock to join in a walk to illustrate what happens when the gas industry leads State policy. Come in a costume or come as you are. Meet for Kabot Kool-aid at the Dimock Baptist Church at 4 and walk down Carter Rd. to the site where a water well blew up on New Years morning, Jan 1, 2009.
Then, return to the church for a viewing of the film" Frac Attack!" and refreshments. Shuttles will be available from the church to Carter Rd. and back. Map for the church location can be found here.

A link for me, and one for her

2011-10-25T17:01:00.003-04:00

Sunday, I read an article in the New York Times (online) about Tom Waits, and his new album coming out.

Googled Bad As Me yesterday, and TADA, (audible intake of breath)...

NPR has the whole shebang available for listening.

First Listen: Tom Waits, 'Bad As Me' : NPR

Well, that got me to clear the laundry, sewing project, and crochet works-in- progress off of the billiards table. Because this music calls for an adult beverage (vanilla stout homebrew in this case), and at least the possibility of shooting stick.

And now, a link for her: The five year old in this house has been LOVING playing around with an educational website called www.starfall.com . Full of interactive books, math activities, songs, she really digs it. If you have a kid of a similar age, I recommend checking it out.

RFK, a convert on Natural Gas

2011-10-21T12:26:00.006-04:00

The Fracking Industry's War on the Truth:(exerpt, click title to read entire article)
By Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Reader Supported News

20 October 11

"I confess to being an early optimist on natural gas.
My caveat was that the natural gas industry and government regulators needed to act responsibly to protect the environment, safeguard communities from irresponsible practices, and to candidly inform the public about the true risks and benefits of shale-extraction gas.
The opposite has happened.
The industry's worst actors have successfully battled reasonable regulation and stifled public disclosure while bending compliant government regulators to engineer exceptions to existing environmental rules.

Recent studies have raised doubts about many of the industry's fundamental presumptions;
For example, releases of methane, a far more potent greenhouse gas, may counterbalance virtually all the benefits of CO2 reductions projected to result from substituting gas power for coal. Robert W. Howarth, Renee Santoro, Anthony Ingraffea, Coal to Gas: The Influence of Methane Leakage. Climate Change Letters.

The human health impacts of gas extraction on local communities may rival those associated with coal. A new study by the Centers for Disease Control finds that breast cancer rates have dropped in every county in Texas, but have increased in the six counties with the heaviest natural gas air emissions.

The US Geological Survey just slashed its estimate on the amount of gas in the Marcellus Shale by 80%, raising doubts about all the industry's positive economic projections about jobs, royalties and revenues. Industry based those projections on resource estimates that the federal government has now jettisoned.

Meanwhile, local communities are finding the costs of irresponsible drilling to be ruinous."

'via Blog this'

Occupy Well Street

2011-10-17T15:59:00.004-04:00

On Saturday I attended my first protest. Made my heart pound heading out to pick up some fellow protestors, wondering if there would be media present, or hecklers. No on both counts. Most people driving by (including a Pennsylvania state trooper) waved or honked. Many gave thumbs up. There was a thumbs down, a middle finger, and a few rednecks revving already loud engines.

It was nice to see the band of 30 people come out to make a statement, people from Dimock, Allentown, Bloomsburg, Dallas, PA. It was actually a fun albeit windy afternoon catching up with some acquaintances and listening to the protest music on an acoustic guitar. A company spokeswoman was on hand to smile and say that everything is fine at the Martin well. Hmm. Then why is Williams still exploring this well four months post fracking? And why has the pressure at the wellhead reportedly dropped to less than 10psi from 2200?

This local gas well employee is from Oklahoma.

One of the highlights of the day was meeting National Geographic photographer Lynn Johnson. She was lugging two Leicas and a Canon. She was encouraging, and she told me that Every Voice Matters.

big girl

2011-10-12T15:25:00.003-04:00

Fall is in the air, the leaves are turning (sassafras leaves flaming like a sunrise), and a page is turning in our house. My little one is so clearly not a baby any longer, but the point has been driven home for me. This was the summer when she learned to run, really run, catching air as her feet left the ground. No longer toddling. She learned to jump, on the trampoline. Packing away the changing pad, onsies, and cloth diapers is satisfying and just a teeny bit bittersweet.

I dreamed that I couldn’t find her in a store. She was right there, but changed so quickly that I failed to recognize her at first. Three dry nights without diapers. She tells me the next day that she doesn’t need me anymore. I think she means that she’s proud to be a “big girl”. I try to savor the moments when she shows me that she still needs her mama.

My Ballerina

2011-10-07T08:08:00.006-04:00

Since we decided to give our five year old an extra year to mature before Kindergarten (her birthday is close to the cutoff *), I’ve been trying to keep her engaged with various activities and chances to be sociable.

The class she was most psyched for was ballet. I took some photos before the first class and she was bouncing off the walls excited! I feared the bun hairdo, but YouTube came to my rescue with a perfect, simple video tutorial.

The room full of little ballerinas are unbelievably adorable when the class gathers, but the door to the dance room only has a tiny viewing window, so “funny hair” and I go to the preschool room. I crochet or try to read while she plays My Little Ponies and asks all the kids what their names are.

* I think I will write more about the decision to redshirt at some point. This trend has been in the news recently and we based this decision on overall readiness, especially social factors involving confidence & anxiety.

Hillside Farms Fall Fest

2011-10-04T09:44:00.004-04:00

The rainy gloomy cool weather continues, but it couldn’t deter us from heading out to the Land at Hillside Farms Fall Festival this weekend. After flustered attempts at parking and a near miss at getting stuck in a muddy field, we made a beeline past the kettle corn, free soap and syrup samples, and Jersey calf- to the ice cream. The pumpkin flavor was out of this world good. Neither little girl could finish their cone, so I filled up on the “chicken scratch” vanilla sprinkles flavor and was quite thoroughly chilled just in time for pony rides in the drizzle.

We fished in the creek and bowled with corn. Wandering around, we visited alpacas, sheep, goats, donkeys, and milking cows (watching out for the sudden streams pointed in our general direction).

The Plants were rocking out and that’s where Evie wandered off to when I wasn’t looking. She said she was going to ask them for a lollipop. All in all, it was a good time.

(a trip to the) Bloomsburg Children’s Museum

2011-10-01T10:41:00.003-04:00

We met some playgroup buddies at the Bloomsburg Children’s Museum yesterday, and it was well worth the visit. Admission is $5 for people over 2. The former firehouse is packed with educational, interactive exhibits for all your senses. We jumped right into the cozy birds' nest with authentic Audubon stuffed birds, crept into the creepy coal mine, played in the one room schoolhouse exhibit, and loved the dramatic play area complete with costumes and puppet theater. Around every turn was a coloring station, musical experience, or mural. If you are in the area with kids, check it out!

seaside getaway

2011-09-25T09:54:00.003-04:00

When I last wrote (typed) there was massive flooding, and we lost power, and the car was busted, but we had a getaway planned. The levees held. We rented a car and drove all night (so the wee ones would sleep instead of raising holy heck in the backseat for hours on end) to the Outer Banks, in North Carolina. Forgetting the camera cable and subsequently having the power cord fail resulted in less screen time for me, so I’ve had a bit of an electronic vacation as well.
It was great to get away, although it was a strange time to be leaving, and then coming back and adjusting to being home again takes a few days.

A getaway was overdue, really (since we have not been to Ontario in so long). We walked the beach, looked in wonder at the sea creatures, played in the sand, swam and surfed in the waves. And we took it real easy.

Reading a book on the beach with a beer became one of the high points of a whole day. I shot a few frames of film of the kids playing at the beach with my Nikonos (since I was afraid to get sand in my DSLR). It was a nice vacation; the ocean has always been my favorite place on the planet.

When it rains

2011-09-08T09:48:00.007-04:00

I was very upset when I caught older sister playing salon with little sister. How l loved the ringlets on my baby. OK, so she is 32 months old now, but still. When she would wake up from a nap and the sweat from her hot little head reset those curls, they were darling. A “before” photo.

And..,after. A mullet on one side and a rat tail on the other. Its asymmetrical, avante-garde! And I hate it. I’ve taken to calling her Billy Bob. I'm torn between a going with a pixie cut (but not sure I can stomach cutting off the curls in back, which go to mid-back,) or… just rocking the long/short/strange combo. I yelled like a crazy person.

At the time, part of me knew it wasn’t kind to yell at a 5 year old, and I felt sorry for her when it turned out later that she had developed a UTI. And then we found out that the transmission in our SUV is shot. Dealership wanted nearly the price we paid for the thing to fix it. And we had hoped to go on vacation.

Oh, and then it rained about 9 inches in 24 hours after a month of freakish rainfall. Wilkes-Barre, PA is being evacuated, and the entire county to our west is being shut down. There is a very shallow pond in our walk-out basement. And that is at 1300ft elevation! Below are pictures of the main road in the town of Benton, yesterday, before the torrents of rain that continue as I write. Photos courtesy of The News from Down Home in Benton PA.

I know we are lucky though, local friends have just had power restored after 11 days without it. Others will have very serious flood damage. When it rains, it pours. The Best laid plans of mice and men oft go awry… and other cliches…..

mudcakes

2011-09-04T16:14:00.002-04:00

These turd-like items are faux birthday cakes on painted tiles, decorated with calendula blossoms, courtesy of my little girls. They love to play birthday party. We even sang at this one.

Today I took them on a shopping trip; it was the worst one yet. They whined, they fought, they crawled on the floor like cats and dogs, stood up in shopping carts. It was maddening. But somehow the idea of shopping alone seems so quiet, easy even, but in a boring sense.

Driving around (when a shopping trip becomes necessary),I love listening to Neko Case, my absolute favorite musical discovery of the last five years. Tell me, what artist, band, or album is your favorite?

I am thinking a frequently about how the heck does one write a novel? Because I have no clue. Reading interviews by authors like Gayle Brandeis, Barbara Kingsolver on how she writes, and this neat collection titled How to write a great novel. Its a relief to discover that not everyone maps out their plot, and that there seems to be no one way to do it. Heard Salman Rushdie quoting “Character is plot” in my sleep the other night.

This song goes better with today’s rainy day mood.

as long as it looks beautiful

2011-09-02T12:17:00.002-04:00

NaNoWriMo

2011-08-26T16:50:00.005-04:00

Does that sound silly?

We watch a fair amount of movies and serial TV shows in the evenings, and recently screened Water for Elephants. After viewing it, I Iooked it up in Wikipedia to satisfy my curiosity. Right there, on the first line, it said, “Gruen originally wrote the novel as part of National Novel Writing Month”. Hmmm, that sounded interesting, so I clicked through a couple more times. The idea is simple: 50,000 words in 30 days. That’s 1,667 words per day. I signed up. To write a novel!

I figure that I’d better start some writing calisthenics. The idea of cranking out a book in a month is a bit scary, but I keep thinking What’s the worst that could happen? Well, I could be miserable for the month of November. I could quit. It could suck. Even so, I’ve heard successful writers say that they wrote a “bad” book before the good ones. Occasionally I’ll think (or talk!) vaguely about working professionally as a freelance writer and/or photographer, but never seem to take the steps to make it happen. So why not dive right in? It seems like writing a novel (even a terrible one) would be a worthwhile (even if potentially stressful) experience.

Anyone want to join me in this slightly crazy endeavor? Pretty Please?

wood fired pizza

2011-08-24T12:58:00.004-04:00

We had pizza for lunch today. And dinner last night. And ate it for a few meals last week.

Adam constructed the brick wood-fired oven in the style of Alan Scott. It took months of work to build and more dollars and scrounged materials that I would have thought, but my mouth and stomach say it was worth it.

For the pizzas pictured, the oven master fire roasted tomatillos and tomatoes to make red and green sauces. There were sliced orange tomatoes and fresh broccoli from the garden. Chanterelles from the woods and hard salami from the corner store. Good Stuff.

Hops, hornets

2011-08-18T11:29:00.004-04:00

The great hops harvest of 2011 is underway. I’ve been a bit neglectful of the garden this summer, but the hops vines have flourished. Some judicious pruning and mulching and tying of support lines early in the season, and then, just stand back and watch these babies do their thing. Predicted harvest is five pounds- and that is dry weight! This is the fourth year for some of the vines and we have 5 varieties planted: Willamette, Nugget, Cascade, Centennial, and Brewer's Gold.

I used to be frightened of the bald faced hornets that patrol the yard. (Here is a link to three pages of fascinating information and pictures about them.) I would encounter them- and quickly scurry away. Last year they built a big nest on the back of the coop, and never bothered me. They are considered to be beneficial insects because they hunt and eat flies and other bugs. So this year, I’ve been curiously observing a very large and busy nest on the front of one of the outhouses.

These pictures are a couple weeks old, so the nest is bigger now. In the past I would have destroyed it out of fear. Instead we’re avoiding the area and enjoying a less abundant fly population. After frost it will be neat to take it down and inspect the structure more closely. Hopefully no one gets stung before then.

Response from Senator Casey

2011-08-16T10:49:00.003-04:00

Last month I penned a Letter to the Editor that ran in both the WIlkes-Barre newspapers and was forwarded to legislators in varied forms. Although I should have remembered that the point I was trying to make is currently out of federal control, I was glad to see that Senator Casey’s office made the effort to return my email. This is the response that I received.

Dear Mrs. Karr:

Thank you for taking the time to contact me with your concerns about shale drilling in Pennsylvania. I appreciate hearing from you about this issue.

When prices for natural gas and oil reached record highs in the summer of 2008, many called on the United States to increase its domestic energy production activities. Of the many sites across the country targeted for fossil fuel exploration, the Marcellus shale formation, which covers 34 million acres of land extending from New York through much of Pennsylvania and into Kentucky, has emerged as a potentially significant source of natural gas. This is a valuable resource to our Nation and major potential source revenue for the people of our state, but only if it is responsibly developed.

In contrast to a traditional natural gas well, the gas in the Marcellus shale is located in tiny pockets in sedimentary rock. Recovering these resources requires a technique known as hydraulic fracturing or "fracking." This involves injecting tens of thousands of gallons of water mixed with sand and chemical additives deep into the rock under extremely high pressure. The pressure breaks open the rock releasing trapped natural gas, which is then captured. Fracking often occurs near underground sources of drinking water and involves the use of chemicals, including salts, that can release naturally occurring hazardous substances such as arsenic, mercury and other heavy metals into drinking water supplies. The protection of underground water sources is especially important to Pennsylvania, because it has the second highest number of private wells for drinking water in the nation.

My priority is to protect the health and safety of Pennsylvanians as we develop the Marcellus Shale. That is why I introduced legislation which would repeal an exemption to the Safe Drinking Water Act that permitted oil and gas companies to use hydraulic fracturing. In addition, the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals (FRAC) Act, S. 587, requires that the chemicals and additives used in hydraulic fracturing be reported to Environmental Protection Agency or appropriate state agencies for public disclosure. The FRAC Act further requires that companies disclose detailed information about chemical usage to medical professionals in the event of a medical emergency. My staff is also working with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection on these and other issues.

In response to concerns that radioactive material might be threatening Pennsylvania water as a result of hydraulic fracturing, I wrote a letter to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the Environmental Protection Agency. In these letters, I called on both the state and federal agencies to increase inspections and to address the lack of inspections as drilling has increased in recent years. I also called for increased public disclosure so that Pennsylvanians have more information on what is in their rivers and their drinking water.

I have written twice to the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) as it considers regulation of natural gas wells in the Delaware River Basin. In my letters, I have urged the Commission to include stronger disclosure provisions for chemical composition of the fracturing fluids used by gas drilling companies to protect the 15 million residents who rely on the Delaware River for their drinking water, as well as provisions to strengthen emergency response at wells. I have also called on the DRBC to implement some of the measures that I have proposed at the federal level, including public disclosure of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing and enhanced emergency response measures to protect workers and the community in the event of a well blowout or other emergency.

The federal government does not have jurisdiction over many of the issues affecting the development of the Marcellus shale, for example local road conditions, gas pooling, a severance tax and a drilling moratorium. As your United States Senator, I am unable to take any direct action on these matters. However, I urge you to share your views with your State Representative, State Senator, and the Governor.

I understand that many Pennsylvanian landowners have been approached by companies who would like to lease their land in order to drill into the Marcellus. While the federal government has no role to play in negotiations of this kind, I want to make sure that Pennsylvanians are aware of resources that can help them make the most informed decision possible about entering into a contract. For example, Pennsylvania State University Cooperative Extension Service has a number of publications that contain helpful information on this issue, including "Natural Gas Exploration: A Landowner's Guide to Leasing Land in Pennsylvania." This document can be found at the following web address: http://naturalgaslease.pbwiki.com/Publications.

As always, I appreciate your views, thoughts, and concerns as they assist me in understanding what is important to the people of Pennsylvania. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future about this or any other matter of importance to you.

If you have access to the Internet, I encourage you to visit my web site, http://casey.senate.gov. I invite you to use this online office as a comprehensive resource to stay up-to-date on my work in Washington, request assistance from my office or share with me your thoughts on the issues that matter most to you and to Pennsylvania.

Sincerely,
Bob Casey
United States Senator

P.S. If you would like to respond to this message, please use the contact form on my website: http://casey.senate.gov/contact/

Crochet cowhand hat & Shrug

2011-08-13T08:21:00.002-04:00

My latest (completed) crochet projects are: a pink cowgirl hat, a navy blue blue and white cowboy version. Also from the same blue cotton yarn, a shrug which is a simple single crocheted rectangle folded in half and strategically stitched together to make arm holes and a collar.

The salmon colored yarn was described as “light mocha”, but it really looks more pink than tan. The pattern is from this book. Shrug pattern by Lion Brand Yarn, although it looks vastly different due to the yarn gauge and hooked used. Plus I got tired of the repetition and decided to cut it short (Literally). It is short on me, more like a bolero.

Anyone out there using the site Ravelry? It seems to be made for knit & crochet fiends, but I find it hard to believe that I ought to be wasting time on yet another website. I need convincing.

Livid

2011-08-09T09:06:00.003-04:00

We’ve been somewhat fortunate so far in having minimal problems with predators taking out our chickens. There was a single mink attack on veritable sitting ducks: meat bird babies at night under a light. But now we are having an issue with the most insidious kind of threat: pets.

Let’s call him “Rover”. He doesn’t hunt for food, just sport. Living in the country is great, but loose roaming dogs are turning out to be a real downer. Not only do they leave lovely presents all over the yard for you to step in, but they kill chickens for fun. Two birds down in a week, with the same signature. A tell-tale pile of beautiful feathers on the far side of the schoolhouse, and a corpse up in the field past the garden on the hill. I have been able to guess the bird by the color of the feathers left behind both times.

The first victim was “Silver”, a young 1 year old hen who was a favorite for her unusual color. This morning I noticed that our youngest cockerel, the biggest one of these babies, was missing. Yesterday he tried to crow for the first time. The damage to their bodies is very minimal. and they look to have made for live toys for the neighbors roving dogs. I am livid; I took pictures.

five

2011-08-05T21:25:00.003-04:00

While the birthday girl watches Monsters Inc, I’m taking a little trip through her first five years in pictures. I’m happy to have a pictorial record of many months online, since a hard drive seems to have died that contained many baby pictures. Time to back up the digital image collection.
Happy Birthday to my Amelia! It’s been an amazing five years.

Girl’s quick summer dress

2011-07-31T16:00:00.003-04:00

This is “grumpy face”. There’s been a fair amount of that around here lately. Is it the heat?

Today I decided to finally work on quick summer dresses, for big sissy will be turning 5 in just a few days! We spotted the fabric a discount chain store, ready to go with an elastic thread ruched top section. This is a super quick (it feels like cheating!) way to sew a girls dress- take a chest and length measurement, hem the bottom, seam the right width together, and make some straps (still needed). The version for little sis needed to be shortened, and would look cute with a ruffled bottom, but I was going for quick satisfaction. We took some pictures on our new trampoline, found on Craig’s List. See Amelia’s spinning jump? She works hard on that, so I think sides for the trampoline would be a smart investment. Also underway are crochet shrug, bikini top, and cowgirl hat. Someday perhaps I’ll have a few things for an Etsy store. Or not, since there always seems to be a birthday around the corner.

Also have been messing around with Photoshop Elements, trying to design a new headers (attempt one below), spurred on by this tutorial on MADE. There are some really beautiful blogs out there in cyberspace by talented people, and I appreciate the skill-sharing and teaching.

Should have (or, how the peeps got cooked)

2011-07-22T18:34:00.004-04:00

Triumphant and pathetic all at once, the newly emerged peeps fascinated me. I watched over them carefully, taking them out for fresh air daily when they grew big enough to stand the cooler air and back in again to safety.

I’d maneuvered to keep the extra roosters around a little longer for a more genetically diverse (and beautiful) flock. As the peeps grew bigger still, they moved to the chicken “tractor” and we’d turn the heat lamp on each night and close up the sides with a rug if rain or cool air was forecast. They were my little farm.

The girls have become a bit feral this summer and loved running down to see those peeps every morning, feeding them catching them and even bringing two in the house to watch cartoons. “Hurty” was a barred chick with crippled feet, she seemed to like Amelia’s attention. And little sister was partial to “Blindy” who had a big blue blind eye. The defective peeps were the pets. They would put food and water in the cat carrier and settle in on beanbags to watch “She-Ra” or “My Big, Big Friend”, sometimes holding the birds on their laps (until the inevitable poultry bowel movement).

Normally, each morning I go down to check on the chickens and make sure the peeps have water and some food. Today, I was lazing around on the couch, reading, killing time until my doctor’s appointment. Lucky me, strep throat for the second time in two months! So, I didn’t check the birds this morning, since I was feeling quite sick and laying low, and Amelia said she had let them out and fed them.

Later, after a trip to the CVS for antibiotics and snacks, I finally did make it down to the chicken yard. 14 of the 19 incubator babies were locked into the cat carrier in the 96 degree heat, all piled up and dead. Tears, a little shouting, and a swollen painful throat plus a fever. So very sad and pointless. Angry, mostly at myself. Should haves.
They were beautiful, some with black beaks and black legs, others that had been hatched white, but were turning red and black. Blue barred feathers mixed with buff. So many lovely peeps that would have been egg layers and the males, a source of meat for the year to come. Wasted. Smothered in a hot cage for no reason. Amelia drew a picture of her and I with “Hurty”, her favorite, us all smiles.

Forced Pooling

2011-07-18T09:01:00.003-04:00

The Citizens Voice ran an article Saturday titled "Shale Panel Recommends generic Impact fee". For citizens who are concerned with their private property rights, the news was largely bad. Governor Corbett's panel wants to extend an un-American policy called Forced Pooling to natural gas drilling.

Forced Pooling would prevent a homeowner from having the ability to say "NO" to a drilling company who wants to access or move natural gas via private property. This violates the first article of Pennsylvania's constitution, which unalterably grants the inherent right to acquire, possess, and protect property.

According to the article, "Terry Engelder, a Penn State University geosciences professor, said pooling is beneficial because it can minimize the wasteful stranding of gas deposits and spur industry growth."
Forced pooling only benefits corporation bottom lines. It is foolish to trust the recommendations of experts such as T. Engelder when the "experts" are on the payroll of the drilling industry. Oppose forced pooling. Don't allow the government to revoke our rights.
_____________________________________________________________________________
To hear Professor Engelder in his own words, more on his role in the Marcellus shale play, as well as another angle on the topic, give a listen to the NPR radio show, This American Life: Game Changer.

Rodeo

2011-07-15T09:47:00.003-04:00

Just one part of what makes summer so great, along with swimming and berries, is going to the rodeo. The Benton Rodeo started Tuesday and runs through Sunday. We like to take advantage of the first two nights, which are free. The nights with paid admission are worth checking out, for the experience: this is supposedly one of the best rodeos in the Eastern US.

First, we hit the milkshake stand. Fair food is part of the fun.

We brought our own horses, and there was a rodeo of kids on a grassy patch by the low wooden bleachers. A patient mother sitting nearby was cajoled by a charming (and pestering) Evelyn into round after round of, “Ready, Set, Go!” And off they went, racing giddily, one little girl(/ pony) pretending to be shot down time after time. Real horses and ponies were pet, and we stayed out past our bedtimes.

a secret

2011-07-11T10:54:00.002-04:00

On a recent walk through the woods, my littlest one told me a secret.

“ Mama, monsters like mushrooms more than people do”.

An amusing insight, I thought, and wondered how she figures that. She told me again, another day, to be sure I didn’t forget.

Mushrooms from top: Chanterelle, Black Trumpet, a coral, and some kind of Amanita.

Caterpillar

2011-07-05T13:20:00.003-04:00

Among the Virginia creeper leaves and wild grapes on the fenceline, a flash of color caught our eyes. At the local preschool they would capture caterpillars from time to time and house them until the butterfly emerged from its chrysalis. So inside the house came the caterpillar, after a good bit of searching online. Turns out that our temporary pet was a moth, and not a butterfly after all. It is called an Eight-Spotted Forester (click to see the images of the moth), and is a member of the Owlet Moth family. That was our biology lesson of the day. Eventually, the little squirmer wasn’t looking too peppy and so he was rereleased where originally found, a few days later. With 20 chicken peeps in the tractor, I have enough critters to look after already, thank you very much. Though the poultry population has been reduced: two roosters were re-homed last week to a chicken fancier who now owns 12 roos(!!!!!). Mornings have been a bit quieter since then.

Watching and Waiting- Updated

2011-06-27T15:10:00.006-04:00

In Benton (Columbia County), at Williams’ Martin gas well, the fracking is finished, the coil rig (above left) is gone, and the only reported flame from the flare pipe (black pipe at left side of right photograph) was brief and tiny. So, I watch and wait and take photos when I drive by. The signs say “No Stopping any time” and then “Be prepared to stop”. I figure maybe the letters to the leaseholders are in the mail and there will be some news soon, one way or the other. Until then I repeat the mantra: “No news is Good news is no news” (repeat)…

6/27 Update from this website: (worth checking but be warned of annoying pop-ups)

Evidently there was a problem removing several of the concrete plugs that are put into place after each segment of fracking. These plugs are about a foot and a half long. The plugs were all removed successfully by Saturday morning. I understand that the well is being flushed of fracking fluid and that process may take another day or two. Apparently the well is maintaining 2200 PSI of pressure which is very good.
I'm told that the workers at the site are expecting the well to come in at three million cubic feet per day or higher. The results should be in by the end of this week whether the gas is good and the well is commercially viable.
If people in the area see a flame atop the stack thirty or forty feet high in the next several days, you can consider Benton Pa. officially gas land.

Recent Shale gas news stories:
New York Times: Insiders Sound an Alarm Amid a Natural Gas Rush “…energy executives, industry lawyers, state geologists and market analysts voice skepticism about lofty forecasts and question whether companies are intentionally, and even illegally, overstating the productivity of their wells and the size of their reserves. Many of these e-mails also suggest a view that is in stark contrast to more bullish public comments made by the industry, in much the same way that insiders have raised doubts about previous financial bubbles.”

Time Video- Flaming Faucets: When Fracking goes wrong

Huffington Post: Lawmakers Urge Obama To Pursue Energy Security Through Natural Gas “…We urge you and members of your administration to take a leadership role in encouraging the continued development and utilization of our nation's vast natural gas resources by any means necessary, but most specifically, by unconventional shale gas recovery."

Times Leader: Sportsmen keep eye on drillers

“…the water is cloudy and dead-looking. “It used to be a nice stream,” teeming with minnows, crawfish and other aquatic life, he said. No more, said Dufalla..”

Fracking Unholy

2011-06-15T09:39:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was a perfect June day. Perfect for a country drive. The air was crisp and cool, with no haze marring the views, and the perfume of wild roses permeating everything. Past the old Cambra store, the barns, the horses, and down the hill to St. Gabriel’s Church. This quaint country church, founded in the late 1700’s, sits against the breathtaking backdrop of North Mountain, with a cemetery out back. We used to visit at the local watering hole with a veteran who is buried there. The spot is so picturesque that the local restaurants hang a print of the scene, which normally is pretty as a picture.

Yesterday, the bucolic scenery was marred by an unholy fracking mess. Hoards of tanker trucks, huge compressors, Halliburton poisons and fracking rigs swarmed the site of the Martin gas well, directly adjacent to the church. I’ve seen these set ups plenty of times on my computer monitor, but I have to say that to see it in person, despite the neatness and order that was apparent, made me feel ill. In the picture below, you can see the white church in the center, behind the tankers and rig.

Across the road there is a pasture where cattle graze, and just down the hill is the ~~formerly~~ pristine trout stream known as Fishing Creek. Today the fracking begins. If you’d like to see the lovely ingredients they will be using, click here, then on the image of Pennsylvania, and read one of the delicious recipes. For more pictures of this well activity, click here. I hope it turns out to be another dry hole and the drillers and frackers go elsewhere. If not, things will be changing in this beautiful part of Pennsylvania, my home. Personally, I believe that pure water and clean air are worth more than fossil fuel. The latter we could live without. The former is the basis for life itself. Don’t Frack it up.
un·ho·ly
adj. un·ho·li·er, un·ho·li·est
1. Wicked; immoral. 2. Not hallowed or consecrated.

My Peeps

2011-06-13T15:09:00.002-04:00

Lately, I’ve been spending time with my peeps. There are the four older ones in the tractor, and 21 freshies inside, in a brooder in the heat room. I need to get down there and cover up the foam insulation that chickens seem unable to resist eating. Because it is so yummy, apparently.

Hatch time caused me to lose some sleep, between watching the struggles with shells and fiddling with the heat lamp so that the hatched peeps would be at the right temperature. There was one that pipped early but never got out of the membrane, and after having to (sadly) pitch that one, I broke a rule and “helped” three peeps a little. The first turned out fine, but the subsequent third day hatchers that received assistance did not make it. Note to self- No helping the late hatchers. They need to be strong enough to do it themselves.

Now there’s one little guy that needed chicken orthopedics. The foot wouldn’t spread out and the leg is going sideways: he’s sporting a shoe and a hobble brace. I didn’t make this stuff up! Who knows if it will help this peep, but I feel the need to do something. There’s another that seems to be having the issue known as pasting up. Basically, the baby needs its bottom cleaned. Those two are the problems/ runts so far but I am not too keen on culling yet, and as long as they make it until “Market Day” I will keep them. Until then, anyway.

Hatched

2011-06-04T11:08:00.005-04:00

We’ve had a broody hen recently. Well, in truth, it was musical broody hen there for a while, but one of the three white hens ended up setting on the clutch. When I found a little black chick that had died, while the hen was off of the eggs briefly to eat, we moved the hen and eggs into the bin in the basement heat room for safe keeping. She hatched out two perfect chicks and one with an enlarged eye; we spied on them all through the gap in the cherry staircase. The remaining eggs were abandoned and so I assessed them. Most were stinky, but there was one without an odor and I just so happened to have an empty spot in the 42 egg Hovabator incubator (after I candled all the eggs and found one dud).

The unstinky egg went into the incubator and the hen with peeps moved outside, to the “chicken tractor”. Just as I was thinking of tossing that old egg, it pipped (broke through the shell) and I could hear peeping inside. We set up a simple brooding box and fiddled incessantly to keep the box at 95 degrees under the infrared bulb. I’ve never had the chance to really see a peep hatch before. The peep pecked little holes all the way around the egg until it could push itself out, and then it looked rather moist and helpless until “Little Wobbles” gained strength and its tiny reptilian-looking feet straightened enough for stable walking. This most-recently hatched peep is a blue/ grey color for now. Hope we get some hens from our spring hatch! I am expecting more excitement to begin in the incubator mid-week.

Banner

2011-05-23T20:47:00.002-04:00

I sewed a second birthday banner, as a gift. This one was constructed from a vintage flag and a red shirt. The first one was much flashier.
These banners make for nice decorations that can be reused for every birthday in the family. Next time perhaps I can try getting fancier with the font, instead of my hand-rendered and not very stylish letters.

A Garden for Miss Mouse

2011-05-21T09:42:00.000-04:00

I found this children’s book, “A Garden for Miss Mouse”, a couple of summers back in a “junk” store in Ontario. It is a favorite of ours, in which a bored housemouse grows an out of control vegetable garden that overruns her home. “..And zucchini everywhere!”. I’m sure there are many gardeners who can relate.
For Amelia’s special day at preschool, we read this book aloud and then did a little project. I brought in a pile of seed and garden catalogs and each child was instructed to cut out fives pictures of what they would like to grow in their garden. Then, each child glue-sticked their chosen flowers, fruits, and vegetables onto a photocopy of a sketched house and garden plot (prepared ahead of time). I think this activity was a success and not too fussy for the three to five year olds in the class. They seemed to think the book was funny.

local gas drilling headlines

2011-05-21T09:35:00.002-04:00

and in other news….

Cheseapeake blames vendor

(Way to step up and act responsibly. NOT!) Gas drilling company Chesapeake Energy downplayed the environmental impact of a LeRoy Township 10,000-gallon wastewater spill, blamed a vendor for the equipment failure that precipitated it, and took issue with regulators' account of the incident. Read more: http://citizensvoice.com/news/drilling/cheseapeake-blames-vendor-1.1149958#ixzz1MzcjwBxq
More about Chesapeake’s million dollar fine here.

Marcellus panel turning focus to local impacts

(Ten Dollars per well??????) Scarnati's impact fee bill would levy a base $10 fee annually on each Marcellus well. Read more: http://citizensvoice.com/news/drilling/marcellus-panel-turning-focus-to-local-impacts-1.1149959#ixzz1MzcT8wLo

PUC gives nod to eminent domain power for pipeline company

The state Public Utility Commission intends to declare natural gas pipeline company Laser Northeast Gathering a public utility, giving it the power to condemn private property by eminent domain.
…Judge Colwell argued a pipeline collection and gathering system did not serve the "public," but rather natural gas well owners. Read more: http://citizensvoice.com/news/drilling/puc-gives-nod-to-eminent-domain-power-for-pipeline-company-1.1149410?sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4dd733fb7eaa79b2%2C0#ixzz1MzdKw9iG

mmm…Morels

2011-05-16T11:38:00.002-04:00

Having a wild mushroom hunter as a friend is a good thing indeed. Some of this gorgeous bounty ended up on pizza, and the rest were sautéed with onion and kale and eaten along side macaroni and cheese with paprika and the ubiquitous Chipotle powder (that stuff is the sprinkle of choice lately among the adults in the family). We were instructed to chop them and salt them. The hollow ivory colored tubular stems remind me of calamari with their tender firm texture.

If you’d like to try your hand at hunting morels, here is a good post on some basics. I went looking once, but found them very difficult to spot, camouflaged in the leaf litter. Instead, I got an attached deer tick nymph. Morels are so good, and while I hate ticks, they are not going to keep me out of the woods.

the mouths of babes

2011-05-09T18:01:00.002-04:00

“Mama, look! I found a rock that writes!” she said, with pure enthusiasm, as she scratched the paint of the car.

This girl is my motor mouth. Does she ever stop talking? my mother wants to know when we are trying to talk on the phone and little E. is running a monologue in the not so distant background. No, not really. She has so many words, and long sentences, too. But I still love the cute anomalies of her speech: like calling a banana a Bee-nana.
Or asking, “Can I sit on your way-app?” Translation, “Can I sit on your lap?” Or she’ll order me to “Make a way-app” (lap) for her to sit in.
The best bit of mother’s day was playing airplane on the couch with them, hearing laughter, “Do it Again!” and my little one saying that she loves me. I wove you Mama. Yes. Sweeter than music.

the colors of Spring

2011-05-02T13:31:00.004-04:00

It looks, after so many icy weeks, as though someone flipped a great switch marked “VEGATATION”. Jewel tones and blooms surround us. The vibrant colors of Spring are a tonic for winter eyes.

Two years ago, on a solemn Derby Day I was going for one last ride with my dog and had the 1973 Rolling Stones album Goats Head Soup playing on repeat. This song, called Winter, reminds me of this time of year. With the cold on its way to becoming a memory for a while, we say hello to the beauty of this new season.

without water

2011-04-27T15:55:00.003-04:00

Without water we are nothing, the traveler thought. Even an emperor, denied water, would swiftly turn to dust. Water is the real monarch and we are all its slaves.

– Salman Rudshdie, The Enchantress of Florence

spring/ sprung

2011-04-23T18:38:00.003-04:00

Its been a rough winter and early spring, weather-wise. Just yesterday, there was snow. But the forecast shows 70 degrees, my peas have sprouted, and the lettuce seedlings are up, too. The taxes are done for another year and I am awaiting the return of days that truly feel like spring.

chicken advice

2011-04-16T14:30:00.006-04:00

My sister got herself some chickens in San Francisco, and zoning laws in my brother’s area of Maryland were changed to allow them. Jen wrote:

Nicole,
I've been thinking about getting chickens for a few years now and I think this is our year. Do you have a favorite breed for kids? I grew up with Rhode Island Reds which were good layers and relatively friendly. We had one which was REALLY aggressive though...White Face. What a pain she was, we should have eaten her for dinner ;)
I'd love to get a breed that lays well, is friendly/docile, and if possible green/blue of blue eggs.
Where do you buy from? Mom & Dad still have an incubator so we might go the egg route. But chicks would be cool too.
Have you owned any Silkies just for the fun of it?
Any advice would be welcomed. Thanks!!!

Someone asked me for advice! So, we have a motley flock of chickens. It all started when we were gifted a Barred Rock hen and her chicks. Two of the surviving peeps are Black Star/ Ameraucana crosses and they do lay pretty green eggs. Subsequently we have added to the flock by ordering yearly from the Murray McMuray hatchery in Iowa. They will ship day old chicks via USPS or fertilized eggs to hatch in an incubator. We have ordered only heavy breeds or meat birds thus far, no silkies or bantams. I have read that feather-footed varieties are supposed to be easier on the landscaping.

I find our flock to be quite the fascinating feathered soap opera. Currently our gentleman resident rooster (above right) is in exile, for his own protection - under the reign of the brutal invader “Blackbeard”. Roosters protect the flock and produce baby peeps (with the help of an incubator or broody hen). They must be nice or be eliminated. They will inevitably force you into finding homes or uses for unwanted excess males. I read in an Atwood story that if you have live stock, you’re going to have dead stock. Its just the way it goes. It gets to me. So...

Don’t- ever leave a large bowl of water out around baby peeps. I still get bummed thinking of the floating peep I found due to my own fault. Learned that lesson.

Do- Read up on chickens. I got this pretty book, but the library should have something.
Here's a good online article that covers the basics of starting with peeps.
Spring for the more expensive (about $9) infrared bulb when brooding chicks.

Build the coop up off the ground to make it less inviting for rats. (There, the unspeakable has been mentioned). Avoid the disgust you would feel, spotting one in your very own yard. Trust me on this one. Leave no more feed out than will be eaten that day. If you’ll be leaving town for a few days, try to arrange for a neighbor or friend to put food out every day rather than leaving an enormous amount out to inevitably attract vermin.

Enjoy the entertainment, sound effects, and great fresh eggs.
Be sure to check your shoes for “fertilizer” at the door.

shell & prisoner

2011-04-11T10:52:00.002-04:00

I made this women’s shell as a gift for Memere (my first crochet garment!) from a merino, mohair and acrylic blend yarn. It is made up of alternating vertical rows of V stitch and 3 stitch (DC) shells. the bottom has a filet and picot edging. (Pattern by Lion brand yarn with some alterations.)

Yesterday afternoon, we took a prisoner. This guy escaped from the neighbor last fall to be just to be captured and kept in a cage all alone by another neighbor. Eventually he made it to inside our coop, displacing our own roosters. One hen had blood on a buff wing, other blood was spattered around the yard. A big fishing net comes in really handy and its good to have the “tractor” to isolate an interloper. Rooster anyone? He’s tough and handsome. A little shy, though.

rising

2011-03-23T11:32:00.005-04:00

Adam made another 17 pound dough ball this weekend. Some of it went on to become pizza, some bread, and some buttery brioche for the girls. This time the flour was white, but other times it'll be sourdough, or might contain fresh-ground whole wheat. Earlier this winter, (yes, technically winter is over, but you should see the snow this morning!) little sister and big sister made their very own mini pizzas. Watching them create their own food was a delight, they were so very excited to be doing it themselves. They made silly faces with toppings. And when my daughter offered me a piece, it was a truly heartwarming slice of pie.

fermenting

2011-03-13T15:05:00.005-04:00

We made some last year, and we’re (again) greedily looking forward to this batch of lacto-fermented “cole slaw”. The recipe comes from the book Preserving Food without Freezing or Canning and is very simple.

Chopped cabbage, carrots, and onion layered with coarse salt, juniper berries, bay leaves, peppercorns, and of course, garlic, in clean jars and covered with brine. Here are more ideas of fermented foods to try.

stitched gifts

2011-03-09T13:40:00.002-05:00

From top left: Micro suede reversible bag (pattern & tutorial by by Lula Louise), wool slippers, striped cotton washcloth, and… my girls

renovations

2011-03-06T08:45:00.003-05:00

Here’s a brief photographic tour of the renovations that have been going down in Mossville. The top image is the upstairs of the church before, showing the timberframe, and all the pine tougue and groove. The green wall (bottom right) covers the bathroom we installed in the fall of 2004 and the small kitchen, located under the timberframed loft, behind the blue bar.

Here’s the previously existing bathroom, once known as “Mama’s bathroom” with the mauve Kohler fixtures we inherited. The green wall (above) was removed to make room for a larger kitchen in a new spot. The third photo shows the new tiny powder room. We will have 2 full baths plus this conveniently located half bath.

In this last shot you can see the new location of the kitchen, minus new cabinetry. There’s some new bamboo floor covering the old unfinished antique pine with burn damage from an old kitchen fire. The refrigerator backs up to the stairs to the loft. Adam did all of the plumbing, electrical, and gas updates himself. It’s nice to have a larger, cleaner kitchen space and the room will evolve over time.

weaving with preschoolers

2011-02-28T10:30:00.002-05:00

A couple weeks back I spent another day at the preschool, doing another crafty project.
I was asked to do a weaving project, since the kids had been learning about fibers and fabric. I made about 16 simple little cardboard looms (bottom right in this photo) in preparation, just in case they all wanted to try their hand at weaving. The kids loved playing with the yarn, and several tried the looms.
A few kids got fairly far along in their weavings (with a little help), using plastic yarn needles. The project was a tiny bit advanced for their attention spans, the time allotted, though, and a the experience was good reminder to Keep It Simple. They say kids at this young age (3-5) need a chance to play with new materials before they work with them.
I love the free form weavings and natural materials in the kids’ weavings in this blog post, next time maybe we can try something similar.
This (left) was the most successful weaving, but I started each one, and the yellow section here was completed by a teacher. Adults had to cut and tie the warp (vertical support wrapped around the loom) when the weaving was competed. Basically the technique is just weave the weft over then under ad infinitum (guess I should skip Latin when speaking to preschoolers), paying special attention to the edges, keeping the tension loose and pushing the work up as you go. Ends can be tied and or woven in.

A little magic carpet.

off the hook

2011-02-05T10:08:00.002-05:00

One of the creative outlets that has been keeping my hands occupied all winter has been crochet. Including holiday gifts I made over ten hats (including two berets, a pumpkin cap, several Santa hats), a couple ruffle scarves, cowls, another baby blanket, a few cotton washcloths, and most recently, a draft blocker for keeping out a little of the cold. I take my projects along in the car, to preschool visits, I hook while listening to/ glimpsing at movies. We watched the entire Battlestar Galactica (2004) series and outer space was an entertaining place to be while idling away many a winter hour. New patterns are still a challenge, but I can make hats sans pattern and feel fairly competent with a hook at this point. Soon it will be time to take another crack at my first sewn quilt.

something for the kitties (and kiddies)

2011-01-26T13:54:00.002-05:00

For some time (don’t ask me why) I’ve been wanting to make catnip mice and we finally made a couple. The first was purple fleece stuffed with catnip leaves and fabric scraps, sewn up by the four year old.The cat of the ever-changing name LOVES to give chase when the girls tie a strand of yarn on to the mouse and run around the house.

We had a volunteer catnip plant (they grow as weeds in our yard) that I dragged indoors and it still survives. It is surely less fussy than the poor Rosemary plant, which will be officially dead any day now.

The second version (Catnip Mouse 2.0) is from a felted sweater and looks a bit more lifelike thanks to ears, a tail, and verisimilitude of color. Kitty approves.

forced yellow cheer

2011-01-25T13:17:00.002-05:00

Some years I forget to force forsythia (which ten years ago I thought was called forcynthia, silly me) before spring turns the shrubs into a riot of yellow blooms. This year I clipped some stems early, just in time to have flowers indoors to cheer all these cold snow days. It couldn’t be easier- just cut yourself a handful of forsythia and put them in some water and wait patiently. Watch the buds swell. Change the water if it begins to look murky. The stems may root, in which case you can plant them when spring arrives.

Blanket for Cyrus

2011-01-11T12:44:00.002-05:00

This blanket for a college friend’s second baby on the occasion of his first birthday has been a while in the making, I started it in September, sitting on the beach at the Outer Banks. I underestimated the tedium of finishing the blanket (again), connecting the octagons and squares and then hiding all the yarn ends. It is mostly acrylic with washable wool (the off-white yarn) and was based on this pattern, but altered to be vaguely crib sized (27” x 44”), and with the extraneous outer level of squares omitted. I used one row of reverse single crochet as an edging. There are a few mistakes in there, but I think it looks impressive, finally all done! Happy Belated Birthday to Cyrus.

the light in your eyes

2011-01-08T11:38:00.003-05:00

I saw a coonhound a few weeks ago, she reminded me of my first dog, now in the ground. Every day, I look into the eyes of Maple as a pup in a medium format image in my bathroom. While reading a book on loan from a generous artist friend, I came across this amazing poem….

Dirge Without Music
I am not resigned to the shutting away of loving hearts in the hard ground.
So it is, and so it will be, for so it has been, time out of mind:
Into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely. Crowned
with lilies and with laurel they go; but I am not resigned.

Lovers and thinkers, into the earth with you.
Be one with the dull, the indiscriminate dust.
A fragment of what you felt, of what you knew,
A formula, a phrase remains,-but the best is lost.

The answers quick and keen, the honest look, the laughter, the love,-
They are gone. They are gone to feed the roses. Elegant and curled
Is the blossom. Fragrant is the blossom. I know. But I do not approve.
More precious was the light in your eyes than all the roses in the world.

Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave
Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind;
Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave.
I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned.
-Edna St. Vincent Millay

new year, new drilling threats

2011-01-07T09:15:00.002-05:00

Citizens Voice: EXCO has plans for former Chief well pad

By Elizabeth Skrapits (Staff Writer)
Published: January 7, 2011

(Photo: Dennis Briggs / THE CITIZENS' VOICE)
A natural gas drilling company that recently bought another's assets in Columbia County has no immediate plans to drill a well there, but hasn't ruled out exploring in Luzerne County's neighbor in the future.
Chief Oil & Gas LLC and Radler 2000 Limited Partnership announced in December the sale of natural gas properties in Lycoming, Sullivan and Columbia counties to EXCO Holding PA, a subsidiary of Dallas, Texas-based EXCO Resources, for $459 million. Assets sold included 15 producing wells, 11 wells waiting to be completed and about 53,000 to 55,000 acres' worth of leases.
Most of that acreage was in Lycoming County, EXCO spokesman Hal Hickey said. Only about 3,300 acres are in Columbia County, including a well pad Chief prepared but hasn't drilled yet on the Niedzwicki property on Route 118 in Sugarloaf Township, less than a mile from Fairmount Township in Luzerne County. Encana Oil & Gas USA Inc. drilled and abandoned an exploratory natural gas well about 5 miles from the site.
Hickey said EXCO will drill appraisal wells across the Marcellus Shale play.
"When we look at this whole play, we look at all our opportunities," he said, adding, "Based on the results Chief has had, we're very excited."
Columbia County is not as high on EXCO's list because acreage there is not as large as that which the company acquired in Lycoming and Sullivan counties, Hickey said. As far as any "planned, firm development," he says it's too soon to say what's going to happen in Columbia County, including with the well pad on Route 118.
However, Hickey said 3,300 acres is large enough to do some exploration if the shale "is as good as we hope it is," and if there is a need to drill a well in the short term to maintain acreage and hold a lease, EXCO will.
"I'm not saying we're not going to drill there. We have to look at it with our scientists and our teams," he said. "We're not discounting Columbia yet at all."
Chief has a permit from the state Department of Environmental Protection to drill the Niedzwicki well, but if EXCO plans to pick up where Chief left off, the company will have to re-apply. DEP requires new permits each time a potential well site changes hands.
EXCO holds leases throughout the Marcellus Shale, but none yet in Luzerne County. The company does have leases in Lackawanna County, and drilled an exploratory well at the Skyline Golf Course in Greenfield Township in fall 2009.
eskrapits@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2072

This site is approximately 3-4 miles from home.

December birthday scenes

2010-12-31T16:16:00.002-05:00

Our youngest turned two earlier this month. It was a cold day in Maryland, and the cake pictured was by far the best of three. Auntie Dana (the chef) is of the extra “one to grow on” candle camp, thus three candles. So many more things to write about, but it is time to say goodbye to the month and this year. Here’s to hoping that 2011 will be a good year!

Friday Foto

2010-12-17T12:38:00.002-05:00

….frozen eggs, Whiskers aka Sparkles (currently called Tiny as he fattens up, or KITTY! when he scratches stuff), red yarn on a hook, Hibernating indoors…

Crafty action as of late

2010-12-13T14:14:00.003-05:00

The girlies getting in to at the “craft table”, where the sewing machine and various paper and fabric messes reside. The beefy pine table has through drawers and four doors and was first used as our summer kitchen cabinets and table when the timber framed loft was being built in the house. In the first shot, big is winding up to get little sister.

Someday Cyrus will actually get his belated birthday blanket, a vaguely crib size afghan of octagons and squares. The ginger bread house below was not my doing, (thanks, Memere!) but was quite an undertaking, and gets its decorations removed for snacks a bit at a time.

Last month I tried my unsteady hand at a Something Special fabric card and envelope tutorial by Sew, Mama, Sew. I don’t know how to embroider, but did a Happy Birthday card, and it came out pretty cute.

Good things

2010-12-01T11:09:00.002-05:00

My little monkey got the cast off her broken leg. She stopped saying “Pickee up” and has graduated to “pick me up”. She still says “cookie eye” instead of gookey eye, thankfully.

I have new neighbors! I can see them first thing from bed. Handsome. Talk about a borrowed landscape.

Thankful

2010-11-23T10:46:00.001-05:00

Citizens Voice.com: Encana comes up empty

Photo by Mark Moran, Citizens Voice

The company responsible for Luzerne County's first natural gas wells, Encana Oil & Gas USA Inc., is pulling up stakes and moving out - meaning the loss of potentially millions of dollars in leases and royalties for Luzerne County residents.
The company announced Thursday that, after two years of collecting mineral rights for thousands of acres and drilling two exploratory wells, it plans to stop work and leave Pennsylvania.

To natural gas drilling critics, the news was welcome.
"I'm thrilled," Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition co-founder Dr. Thomas Jiunta said. "I'm cautiously optimistic."

Encana just finished hydraulically fracturing its gas well on the Zosh Road, Lake Township property of Paul and Amy Salansky, and had drilled but not completed the other, on the property of Edward Buda on Route 118 in Fairmount Township.

"After collecting and analyzing extensive data from each well, we concluded that the wells were unlikely to produce natural gas in commercial quantities," Encana Group Lead Kit Akers stated in a letter to stakeholders.

"To further confirm, Encana and our partner - WhitMar Exploration Co. - decided to test production by completing one of our exploratory wells. Therefore, following consultation with WhitMar, we have decided to discontinue all activity in the area immediately."

Fairmount Township property owner Michael Giamber knew something was wrong when he noticed Encana abandoned work on its natural gas processing facility off Route 118 and wasn't moving forward with five additional wells in the township. "They took their toys and went home," he said.

Encana had permission to drill five more wells and build a natural gas processing facility in Lake Township, at the 4-P Realty property on Loyalville Road, and drill five more wells in Fairmount Township, on properties owned by William Kent and Jeffrey Hynick. DEP just issued the Lake Township permits on Nov. 5.

Asked if Encana had any other plans for Marcellus Shale exploration in Pennsylvania, company Spokeswoman Wendy Wiedenbeck replied, "Not at this time."

****************************************************************************

For now it seems like we have dodged a bullet. I still feel strongly about the issue of fracking, the greedy shortsightedness and disregard for health and safety. I am very relieved that the well drilled so close to me won't be fracked, and the gas processing plant up the road will not be built. There are other permitted sites still very close to here, but I hope the gas will prove to be insufficient or the companies involved will take Encana's lead and go elsewhere. SO very thankful. And if anyone has grown sick of my ranting, I'll give it a little rest, since I feel that my family is safe for now.

letters & links

2010-11-15T09:52:00.005-05:00

What do you think of when you hear the phrase “good neighbor”? That’s how the gas drilling company operating in Luzerne County vows to conduct themselves.

Would the representatives of a good neighbor lie in order to convince people to sign away their legal rights and property value? That’s what I’ve been hearing that the landmen do as standard practice. At my house the man said something like, “Hydraulic fracturing is a safe and highly regulated practice”. He chided my neighbors, “You’re just throwing this money away, because all of your neighbors have already signed.”

Would a good neighbor detonate explosives followed by injecting poisonous chemicals in the ground? Sounds an awful lot like a dirty bomb.

Would a good neighbor repeatedly and willfully misrepresent themselves?
………………………………………………
It is disgraceful that the PA State Senate refused to compromise and pass a reasonable natural gas Severance tax. Our state senators, Tom Corbett, and the spin doctors at the Marcellus Shale Coalition want you to believe that PA will lose jobs and drilling related revenue if a Severance tax were passed. This is nonsense. The legislators are in bed with the industry and they should look for new jobs. They deserve to be fired.

Pennsylvania and her citizens will be the losers if no tax is passed. According to the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, the state has now lost over $100,000,000 in funds by not passing a timely and fair Severance tax. That works out to a $11,000 tax break each hour. Money from a severance tax would fund Growing Greener, which conserves open space and farms, cleans up damage from mining, and makes our state a better place to live. It could go to strengthening the DEP so that they are able to actually protect our environment. And most importantly, the money could go to the communities where drilling damage occurs. Local roads will take a beating, spills and accidents are a reality, and as we’ve seen in Dimock, safe water to homes will need to be replaced. The drilling companies should be responsible for cleaning up their messes, not the taxpayer.

The gas drilling industry must be celebrating that their friends in Harrisburg were able to kill the tax for now. These same senators approved more than $52,000,000 in industry friendly infrastructure paid for by the taxpayers. Are they working for the people of Pennsylvania or are they the puppets of the out of state companies looking to get rich off of our resources?

Marcellus expert advises caution as drilling expands

Sugar Run woman sues Chesapeake over gas drilling

Under the Influence of Fracking?

Order Up: Hats

2010-11-09T16:06:00.003-05:00

But first, this was the view to the north this morning, the light and cloud combo were striking.

Hats. These two were gifts for preschool friends, a four year old who loves blue, and her new baby brother (model is a doll, smaller one inanimate).

And these three flowered hats were my first order of hats for hire. That’s right, I’m a mad hatter. Now I’ve got a baby blanket to finish and then on to the holiday crafting blitz.

Cardinals

2010-11-02T10:00:00.002-04:00

leaf collage

2010-10-20T14:34:00.003-04:00

When I was invited to share an art project with A’s preschool class, I went looking for ideas online and spotted this cute Leaf Man collage, from the blog “the Artful Parent”. As it turns out there are a couple great kids books with leaf illustrations. The class and I had a good time painting the collected leaves with glue and applying them, along with fresh calendula petals, dried beans and corn to the back (blank) side of some of my old 8 X 10 black and white prints on heavy matte paper.

Dahlias and peeps

2010-10-03T13:03:00.002-04:00

I’ve read that Red Star hens don’t usually go broody. This gal wasn’t listening, apparently, when that was announced. She has two adorable chicks and seems to be doing a fine job rearing them, despite not having the sense to seek shelter in a rainstorm.

I think fall flowers get shafted as far as getting the attention they deserve. In the spring, I fawn over every little blossom, but these spectacular Dahlias, (my first, thanks Robin!) deserve a vase.

Birthday Blanket

2010-09-30T10:34:00.002-04:00

Here are some shots of the twin sized blanket I made for Melia’s 4th birthday. She wanted a crochet quilt with red, blue, and other colors. The design started with the tiny granny sqaures, which lead to checkerboards, arranged in diagonal stripes. The monotony inspired the random granny designs. I didn’t realize how long this would all take, sewing it all together, tucking in each end, and changing hooks and yarn in an attempt to make it all come together.

The antidote project was an entire baby blanket as one cotton granny square, with only three ends to hide.

Current crochet-in-progress includes a blanket comprised of hexagons and squares, and a commissioned trio of hats.

Meanwhile, my namesake, the Tropical Storm, is drenching everything including my laundry on the line.

Last Day to Comment to the EPA

2010-09-28T13:48:00.005-04:00

Have you penned (typed) comments to the EPA yet? Today is the deadline for Comments on the Hydraulic Fracturing Study. Here is the EPA link with the email address. I sent the words that follow. When I hit send, all I kept thinking was "Help us Obi-wan Kenobi, you're our only hope". Silly, but something about sending a message via machinery/ technology, being up against what seems like an evil empire...It will be a long wait for the conclusions and repercussions, but I hope the new study helps to protect water from drilling related pollution.

To whom it may concern-

Thank you for the opportunity to participate in this vitally important study.
I live in Marcellus Shale country and the value of my home as well as my family's quality of life is on the line.

The 2004 EPA study's conclusions are often cited as evidence that Hydraulic Fracturing is safe.
Based on all the cases of water pollution near drilling and Hydraulic Fracturing sites, that premise seems unlikely.

There are many pieces of the puzzle that need attention:

First, the drilling itself and methane migration. In private wells the issue is the potential for explosions. When the drilling itself causes methane migration, for instance recently the Susquehanna river began to seep gas bubbles where there were previously none, one has to wonder what else is leaking into the water as there are many toxic and radioactive elements in the rock layers that house the gas.

Second, and most sinister, are the fracking fluids. Because they are secret, there is no way to test
for the 30,000 gallons of nasty chemicals per well that are forced into the ground, no way to prove or disprove their source: gas drilling operations.
I suggest using a non-toxic dye or tracing chemical to show with certainty where the fluids are able to travel due to the insane amount of force that is used to blast the shale (I have heard up to 15,000 psi).
I have seen a study that Hydraulic Fracturing with clean pure water is as effective (see Earth Works Action's publication " Drinking Water at Risk") as Hydraulic Fracturing using the chemical mixture, of which millions of gallons of chemical laden fluid stays in the ground and is not recovered, according to the company operating in my township. Why not study that option?

Thirdly, are the flowback fluids containing naturally occurring radioactive materials. I contest that Hydraulic Fracturing is the same as detonating a dirty bomb underground.
We have both elements: explosives (to release the trapped gas from the shale), and radioactive material (naturally present in the shale itself). How is this safe in any way? Even if the toxic "produced water" behaves as the drilling companies claim that they will, and stay put away from our aquifers, all recovered flowback fluid needs to be somehow safely treated and reused so that precious clean stream water is not being squandered. Is that possible? The end point for produced water has to be taken into account.

Water is our most basic, precious resource and it should be treated as such. The loss of drinking water quantity is another way that hydraulic fracturing could impact communities. Each well requires about 6 million gallons of water per instance of Hydraulic Fracturing. That will add up quickly at the pace things are moving along here in Pennsylvania.

EPA, please consider the long term costs of this technology on the health of Americans, it may well outweigh the short term profits.

Baking Inspiration

2010-08-28T16:06:00.004-04:00

On a sheep-filled rural island on Lake Ontario, the south shore road hugs the edge of the water. There, if you are lucky enough to be invited, you can find a beautiful bread oven. It was the inspiration for our wood-fired oven. This is the view from the oven at Cloudbanks. Turn around now, and have a peek at this oven. There is plenty of work space on the stainless steel topped tables.

We had pizzas one night and came back for bread (on bikes) the following evening.

Mr. Sylvester, baker extraordinaire.

Nine round loaves can bake at one time.

Gorgeous basket of hot bread! On the left you can see the bannetons (bread rising baskets imported by Four Worlds Bakery of Philadelphia).

Pass the butter! This stuff makes me hungry when I’m full. Its heavenly. And sourdough.

In the garden: File under amazing

2010-08-23T10:18:00.004-04:00

In this photo (by Dwight Sipler, courtesy of Creative Commons), you can see an example of the beautiful hummingbird moth. I’ve been admiring these nectar sipping impostors every summer for years.

We recently returned home from vacation in Ontario to find the garden a jungle. Especially the less than adequately supported tomato patch. After cleaning it out a bit, a very contrasty black- on -white patch caught my eye.

I thought this disgusting dead tomato hornworm was pretty neat. Parasitic wasps at work! Later, I found some specimens that were still alive and green, and these clearly showed the horn in the name. When I looked the ugly creepy-crawler up online (follow link above), I was floored to discover that this large garden pest is in fact the same creature as the charming hummingbird moth! Go figure.

(long) letter the the editor

2010-08-13T14:43:00.005-04:00

I live just over a mile from Encana’s first natural gas well in Luzerne County, now underway near Rickett’s Glen hotel. The “metering station” (industry euphemism for compressor station) is currently being constructed up the road where my family lives. The noise from the drilling operations and the destruction of what was once a lovely stand of woods is constantly audible. The lights of the rig spoil what was previously an unpolluted starry night sky. Occasionally, the noise is loud enough to wake my husband from a deep sleep. Yet Encana has claimed in print and under oath at the courthouse that the noise of the rig from 350 feet was as quiet as a conversation or a dishwasher.

Last Tuesday evening (8/3), I attended the the Public Zoning Hearing at the Luzerne County Courthouse. Outside, were some demonstrators and news crews. Inside, a large group of citizens gathered to testify and hear the presentation by Encana‘s representatives. The Commissioner’s board room was full to capacity, and nearly every available folding chair in the rotunda was occupied. The Encana people (I counted at least seven) were smooth, skilled, and well rehearsed. The citizens who testified were passionate, concerned, and knowledgeable.

According to the Luzerne County Zoning Ordinance, the purposes of zoning are “to promote and protect the public health and safety, the provision of adequate air and water, as well as to prevent danger and congestion in travel and transportation, (and) loss of health. Zoning ordinances shall be made in accordance with consideration for the character of the municipality. This ordinance is in accordance with these purposes: to reduce water pollution and to improve the future quality of the water and to minimize fish and aquatic plant kill and improve recreation potentialities; to eliminate the scarring and erosion of the land, to improve or maintain its future usefulness and property values and to improve the safety of human beings (particularly children).”

One of the commissioners repeatedly made the point that gas drilling is a legal special exception use in an agricultural zone and that as such, it could not be “zoned out”. In other words, there was no way that the Board was even considering denying the special exemptions and variances that Encana was seeking, no matter how many citizens were there in a futile but legitimate attempt to persuade them to do so. The Zoning board approved five new well pads directly adjacent to Rickett’s Glen State Park. The park is such a special place that it was approved to be National Park in the 1930’s. It a rare and pristine jewel as well as a major tourist draw, and it should be protected. The fact that these unsafe industrial installations are being permitted so close to such a busy state park, with over 2,000 visitors per day in the summer, and the headwaters to a high quality coldwater trout stream (Kitchen Creek) is appalling. Ruin of the Glens Falls National Natural Area would be a disaster of epic proportions. This is just the beginning, and if the exploratory wells are successful, they will soon be all over our formerly clean and quiet countryside.

Some of the pro-drilling crowd tout the relative good reputation of the company that has begun drilling in Luzerne County (Encana). Among their accolades: a 20 Million dollar fine for market manipulation: does that make you want to trust them with our commonwealth? Encana, who brags about being a good neighbor in their printed company propaganda, had 75 reportable spills in 2009 totaling over 4,000 barrels, and 10 fined violations. In 2004 the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission found the company to be responsible for 115 million gallons of gas that escaped underground from their well into West Divide Creek, polluting it. Hydraulically fractured Encana gas wells are suspected to be the culprit in poisoning numerous Wyoming drinking water wells where 2-BE and arsenic are among the pollutants pointed to, suspected of causing serious health problems including cancerous tumors.

The landman for Encana has been lying to my neighbors in an attempt to get them to sign away their gas rights: one was told that all of his neighbors leased, when in fact at least three of them will not sign. Many of our legislators have taken large sums of money from gas companies: 4.2 million in lobbying funds since 2007 (and counting). The EPA study into the safety of fracking will not be concluded for years. The SRBC and the DEP stipulations and regulations are clearly not protection enough. Who is enforcing our right to clean air and clean water? The Pennsylvania Constitution, (Article 1, Section 27.) reads, “The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and aesthetic values of the environment. Pennsylvania's public natural resources are the common property of all the people, including generations yet to come. As trustee of these resources, the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all the people.”

Citizens of Pennsylvania, speak up, contact your legislators, and take action.

summer, so far

2010-07-30T16:57:00.002-04:00

Walked among the Monarda and blackberries in the Gamelands with a shaggy bog dog.

Went swimming at Twin Falls, in very cold refreshing mountain water.

Spent five hours canoeing the Susquehanna river into a headwind with a toddler. We call this spot “Bloody Baby Rapid”. Followed that up with pizza and beer at the Berwick Brewing Co.

I know it’s really summer when the Echinacea turns purple. Got in a couple of hours of blueberry picking. My “medium big girl” took her first overnight trip to Memere’s house. It went amazingly well. She took this “family heart” with her, with a note tucked into the pocket. The pattern and idea is from the book Handmade Home, a fun birthday gift I received.

Rodeo Skirt

2010-07-14T13:34:00.002-04:00

When I saw this red bronco print at the local fabric joint, I knew I had to make li’l A something new to wear to the rodeo. The Benton rodeo is one of the things that defines summer in these parts.

I picked this skirt from House on Hill Road. The hem band (bottom) is smaller than it should be, I chose one size too big (euro sizing), and managed to make the cloth drawstring too wide and then get it stuck inside the casing (and had to cut it out the other end).

Despite all that, she says she’s never taking it off. It did look cute with cowgirl boots and A. got to sit on Poncho (a paint horse) after our neighbor finished a speedy round of barrel racing.

April’s Brood comes home

2010-07-01T09:23:00.002-04:00

We got a couple calls from the neighbor the other day, saying that something was going on with our hen April, who decided to lay her second clutch of eggs by the side of their shed across the road. She was making a ruckus. She picked a very out-of-way spot, under the utility sink (see photo top left). The second time we were summoned, she had all thirteen chicks under a car, scratching around for something to eat. After some struggling with a net and birdseed, we were able to round them all up. There were a few eggs that didn’t pip, and this one, who was unable to get out of the egg. Its truly amazing to see how tightly the peeps are packaged in the eggshell. They lived in the relative protection of the basement for a few days, and this morning they moved on up to the “tractor” (mobile chicken pen that moves like a big wheelbarrow) in the sunny chicken yard, with fresh air and grass to scratch at. At first, I only found 12 babies to move, and my heart was heavy as a raked the woodchips looking for a tiny feathered body. But that little rascal was hiding, silent, in a corner. I was awful glad to find that little peep.

peep city

2010-06-18T11:27:00.002-04:00

So, the girls play together now! I can get things done while they romp. Amazing. I should be cleaning, but it’s high time I post a chicken update. It has been pretty busy in the chicken department around here since April. First, our two Buff Orpingtons went broody. The younger of the two decided to lay her eggs in the neighbor’s yard, under an upturned utility sink. So we named her April, such is the tradition in these parts (the older is named June, since that’s when she first hatched out peeps). There were problems. We were getting ready to go away. Dominant hens kept chasing June off of her clutch in the lower outhouse and adding new eggs to the pile (luckily I had the smarts to mark the original pile). Eggs kept getting broken. Eventually I moved both hens to more protected spots in our chicken yard. I didn’t move them in the dark, however, as is recommended. June, the experienced mother, stuck tight on her eggs. April did not stay put in her new location. So, I moved all the eggs to underneath the more experienced June, in the tractor, away from the rest of the flock. Mysteriously, the eggs continued to disappear. There was no way in my mind that the very dedicated setting hen could be eating her own eggs. There was only one rational answer, and it was one that was difficult to face. RATS. I took he remaining eggs, and we fabricated an incubator out of a Styrofoam cooler, moist sponges, and a heating mat used for beer-making. I had arranged for a chicken and egg sitter in our absence and had all but given up on getting live peeps, when an egg peeped at me! We got the “birth announcement” via facebook, two peeps hatched, and one eventually lived. I called it “Star”, as in Lone Star. That’s her, top left. I was convinced that it was a male chick, but now it’s looking like a pullet (female)!

While we were away, June started setting again. And the feed was gone in a jiffy, more evidence of a rat population. Determined that no rats would eat June’s babies, I moved her into the basement and let Star be with her, because he/she was the most pathetically alone creature. They quickly became cozy in the heat room’s scrap bin. When the first egg hatched 20 days in, we were elated. It was yellow but had a red patch by its ear. Turns out, that red spot was blood, and the peep was dead in the morning. Pecked by the bigger older chick perhaps? The next two peeps were healthy and are doing well today. The fourth was late in hatching and still wobbly when Mama accidently stepped on it an then (inadvertently?) buried it in the chips in a dramatic lesson in “how to scratch” to her other chicks. It was damaged and I thought I should put it out of its misery when it was no longer able to stand… but it lingered for a couple of days. Dead peeps make me very sad. All the anticipation and then death. Looking for meaning and asking why? Luckily, there are three vigorous survivors. We moved some plants around and had peep funerals.

And then the 50 meat bird chicks arrived in the mail. June and Star went out with the main flock and the two new peeps stayed inside the scrap bin with 50 very hungry new friends. They are now outside living in the tractor and enjoying the fresh air. Yesterday we lost one, due to the cool wet weather and pilling in the corner, I think.

This handsome fellow in the picture below is one of the two possible fathers of our three new home-hatched chicks. He is a Blue Andalusian. The other rooster is a Rhode Island Red/ Barred Rock Cross. Here is his baby picture.

Meanwhile, April (the other Buff Orpington hen) has been setting on her second clutch, you guessed it, across the road (safe from the rats?) for a while now. And I ordered a case of rat traps.

A walk at Grand View (with cotton hat)

2010-06-11T12:26:00.002-04:00

The other day a neighbor and her son accompanied me on a walk at the Rickett’s Glen Grand View Trail.

Its just under 2 miles and a very nice walk up the road to the fire tower, to the promised view, down through the rocky woods, past fields of verdant ferns, mountain laurel and huckleberries. Its hard to fathom just how much mountain laurel is really there until you see it all in bloom, in June.

My new summer hat was made with cotton, crocheted in the car en route to and then finished on the boat, where I didn’t get the chance to use it, since the sun hid once it was completed. It turned out well considering that I didn’t have a pattern. The brim was intended to be wider but the price sure beats this little number.

B is for Boat

2010-05-26T09:40:00.002-04:00

Little Boats

When the local preschool proclaimed that it was no TV week, my self-proclaimed “medium big girl” and I spent some extra quality time together. We found this paper mache boat tutorial. Going hopping from one craft site to the next….bliss. How awesome are Ann Wood’s boats? Our prototype had a paper sail, but the second and third version, made for twins turning four, were covered in fabric to be more durable. The paper that we used is from the mountains of scribbles and artwork lying on and stuffed into our craft table, so there are some interesting colors and lines on the boat forms.

Big Boat

We were lucky enough to be invited along for two nights in the Arioso, a gorgeous Halberg-Rassy 40. I would call it a sailboat, but the website calls it a yacht! Such luxury: a teak deck and a mahogany paneled interior. We met our hosts Carl and Leah at St. Mary’s College in Maryland and traveled the river. Leah writes about their sailing adventure at Messing about in Boats. The first day was sunny and we sailed and it was really something, I surprised myself by getting a bit queasy when I went below deck while we sailed and read the girls a book. Didn’t think I had it in me! The girls did wonderful and seemed to take right to life on a boat, and L. & C. helped entertain them by reading, playing with pulleys, and busting out Saskatchewan teddy bears. We ate well, saw osprey nests up close, and I even got a big fat nap the second day as it rained. It was amazingly comfortable sleeping in the “ V berth” in the front of the boat as the water bounced us up and down. The girls slept end to end on the settee, which popped up into a special bed with a canvas side to prevent rolling out. Back on land, it took two full days to lose the feeling of swaying with the boat’s fluid movement and get my land legs back.

What the Frack?

2010-05-23T10:51:00.004-04:00

There have been some nice things that I’ve been meaning to post about, perhaps I’ll get to those, but in the forefront of my mind for days now is the approach of big oil to the quiet, peaceful spot that my family calls home. When we first moved here we were awed by all the unspoiled natural space all around, roads with nothing but beautiful trees and wildlife, and some homes, too. The water is so clean and plentiful that there are many springs in the area where people collect high quality drinking water, coming right out of the ground. When we travel we sorely miss our well water, it is sweet and delicious. Now I think maybe I should have a funeral for that water.

Maybe we should have realized that living within a couple miles and a clear view of a State Park that was slated to be a National Park and having such a high quality of life for a low cost was too good to be true. Maybe we should have been more alarmed that our deed did not include mineral rights. Maybe the proximity to the pipeline should have been a tip off. It was easy to acclimate to the bright stars at night, the clean air, the lack of noise.

Now we have but a few weeks before the drilling and fracking begins just up the road with a gas metering station right on Mossville Road. The more I read about the fracking process, the more disturbed I get. Nearly the entire township has been leased to the gas companies. The companies involved ( in this case EnCana) do not have a clean record. I’d like to see the films Gasland and Split Estate, but they are not out yet on netflix, and the clips I have seen terrify me. Here’s the crazy part: supposedly, the gas wells can be done with clean water instead of the toxic brew the EPA is allowing to be injected in to the ground. So why on earth is this being permitted? See page 67 of this publication “Drinking Water at Risk”.

I’m all for more money for the local economy and less reliance on foreign oil. However, those ends are not worth sacrificing the most precious and important life-giving substance that our beautiful planet and our little corner of it are blessed with: pure water. The birthright of the children is being sold out for greasy profits. Its a shame. I wish Pennsylvania would take New York’s example and just slow down instead of rushing into this. Any ideas of what I can do? This helpless feeling is awful.

KILL THE DRILL PSA from JOSHFOX on Vimeo.

Health Effects of Water Contamination from Fracking

2010-05-23T10:37:00.005-04:00

Click to view this short video clip : World-Renowned Scientist Dr. Theo Colborn on the Health Effects of Water Contamination from Fracking

Buttercup

2010-05-16T13:00:00.002-04:00

One of the first projects I tackled (besides diapers) when I stumbled into sewing things again was the Buttercup Bag. It comes from the blog Made by Rae, and her patterns are darling. Have to make that Itty Bitty Baby dress someday as well. I’m not really a purse kind of a girl (a rare breed indeed), but this one is so cute and manageable, and the tutorial didn’t scare me off. The only issue that I had was at step # 10 the first time. It reads, “Sew purse together around sides only” and I took this to mean that I should leave an opening at the bottom, which is wrong. My bad.

I just made a second one, for a little girl's birthday, made from vintage floral fabric I found at the Red Rock flea market last year and lined with some fuzzy tan stuff. The first version is paisley lined and strapped with old chinos, which gave the bag a nice stiffness. I have yet to use the magnetic snaps (although I bought some that I cannot seem to find), and used a button with bias tape as a closure. I think that idea came from this fun collection of Buttercup bag photos on Flickr.

Fungus Among Us

2010-04-24T10:49:00.001-04:00

Yes, its that time again. Time to hunt and eat wild mushrooms! We’re lucky to have a friend to teach us and share with us, since the idea of eating wild mushrooms is daunting without extensive time-tested knowledge of what’s safe and good.

D. brought over the elusive morels that he’d foraged, to cook on some wood-fired oven pizzas. He wrote about it all here.

There was a second round of bagels, with half organic fresh-ground whole-wheat, too. Good eats.

Blue Face, take two

2010-04-23T10:39:00.002-04:00

alternately- Evelyn’s first art / A few minutes of mommy-time

fourth bag, first blanket

2010-04-22T16:29:00.002-04:00

Made another one of these bags, this one from “homespun” yarn in Fiesta. Its acrylic yarn, but it feels sort of mohair-ish, and I had issues because of the hook that I chose to use, it was too small for bulky yarn. Memere likes a long strap. There’s one more in existence, my sis has it in Egypt.

The unfinished granny square blanket that I inherited from my ma when I took up crochet finally went together. Made just about every possible mistake, but it still pleases me. I put a picot edge around it and washed it (its wool blend) hoping that it would stick together more. But, the old yarn came apart in one section. Some of the yarn said “mothproofed”, but its still fell apart. Weird. It doesn’t want to be finished, but I’d like to get it in use!

this moment: four for Friday

2010-04-16T13:22:00.004-04:00

Chickens, goats, flowers

2010-04-12T15:44:00.002-04:00

Spring is unmistakably here in Mossville. The willows are tipped with chartreuse, the maples edged in crimson. One of the Red star hens was found stiff in the chicken yard at the end of last weekend, the victim of a motor vehicle maybe? Now the flock is down to 13 hens and two roosters. The girls and I visited a little dairy goat herd and the goat dream is still alive, thanks to tiny Nigerian Dwarf goats. Maple’s tree (on her grave) bloomed for the first time since we planted it last May. It is a serviceberry tree and the petals of the fading flowers were falling like snow the other day.

Weekend Bakery

2010-03-29T13:12:00.003-04:00

Yesterday the wood fired oven produced three scrumptious baked items. After the girls devoured 6 bucks worth of crackers in 48 hours, I found this simple cracker recipe, the result is pictured above center. It was my first attempt with the brick oven, so I was pleased that they came out well. To the right is one of the pizzas; this one got wrapped up to go, topped with 1/4 sweet peppers, 1/4 hot peppers, 1/4 pepperoni, 1/4 grass-fed all-beef sausage. We all ate too much, I think.

Ever since viewing the bagel episode of Baking with Julia (Child) recently, I’ve been craving bagel egg sandwiches for breakfast, and this morning they were all that I could hope for. In the photo top left, those dough balls each became a bagel. Amelia is holding a gingerbread man (baked in the gas oven). What are those ugly knobs in the bottom right? Jerusalem artichokes (name came from a bad translation of girasole, supposedly) or sunchokes that survived the winter in the ground. We had some a week or so ago that were fried as chips and they were sweet and nutty. They taste something like a water chestnut crossed with jicama and a potato. They are a tall and tenacious, vigorous plant. I tried to get them all out of the ground, knowing that they’ll be back anyhow.

Steam Cleaned Sickies

2010-03-27T14:49:00.003-04:00

For a while there, the change of seasons seemed like somebody flipped a switch. All of a sudden there was light and warmth, fly hatches buzzing outside and birds everywhere you looked. Each day new plants emerged from the ground: crocus, daffodils, woodruff, columbine. But now the cold is back, and when its cold outside, the best place to be is in the sauna. Its my favorite luxury and I do think it is healthful form of relaxation, sweating stuff out and re-hydrating. Its nice when anyone is sick to breathe that moist air.

The exterior of our sauna is built of walnut, the door and benches are antique fir, and the wall paneling is local larch. The carved ladle for throwing water on the rocks is alder. Lately Evelyn has taken to coming in the sauna and splashing around in a tub on the floor, which makes for great fun bathing together in the steam. The past fall and winter have been so densely packed with illnesses, too. The schedule has gone about like this: head cold, cold, stomach bug, bronchitis, cold, stomach bug. Repeat, omitting the bronchitis. A couple weekends ago little Evelyn was running a fever. Just look at that sicky face on the left. She was so sweet when sickness sapped the spunk out of her, all cuddles and just needing mama to hold her. It is gratifying to be the source of comfort that she seeks. We spent some time in the sauna together, and later, Grandma + Grandpa Karr came to visit (and to the rescue), delivering some fever reducer. Medicated, Evelyn snapped right out of her delirium and charmed everybody, doling out loud snacking smooches and trying to stomp around in adult shoes. Such a doll and growing so fast now that you’d swear you that you can see the difference in her face every morning from the day before.

two wool bags

2010-03-26T14:24:00.003-04:00

I’ve moved on from so many crocheted hats to crocheted bags. These two bags, gifts for my "sisters", were made with Fisherman’s Wool (one from the color called oak tweed and the other Maple tweed) and the pattern they are based on is called the Go Lightly Tote.

peas & greens

2010-03-19T13:05:00.002-04:00

Yesterday peas went in the ground, with help from Amelia. She loves being in the garden. Watering is her specialty. The pea picture above is last year’s crop; this year they are planted in a new location. Normally by now we’d have lots of seeds started under lights. Since that hasn’t happened yet, and spurred on by the GORGEOUS weather we’re having, Papa made a mini greenhouse out of some windows, and we seeded it with rows of various spinach, lettuces, and arugula. So looking forward to homegrown salad. The glass row cover has plastic ends (not pictured) and the missing pane will be covered when the cold returns.

Her first shop project

2010-03-18T13:45:00.002-04:00

Amelia helped out with her first project in the woodshop. Around the banquette, there was frequent drama over who got to sit in the plastic booster seat. Evelyn preferred to be near her sister, and sit in the “car-car”, as she calls any seat. So Amelia and her Papa made a new wooden booster seat, and big sister painted it her very favorite color.

I’m not sure how she does this to her paint brushes. The bristles are all broken off, even from my old brush, not just the cheapo watercolor set ones.