Purging and Squirming

The older kids were at school, Indira was asleep, and it was a good time to purge the linen cupboard.

It only has two shelves, but they are incredibly deep. Plenty of room for things to get shoved back there and forgotten. I knew there were things back there I hadn't accessed since we moved in over six years ago. Time to minimize!

I pulled the front row of things from the first shelf, and then reached for the next layer, which was about a third of the way into the cupboard. And something LARGE moved. Scurried. With many long and spiky legs. Under a fold of towel.

I froze in place and considered my options. The winner: gently close the cupboard door and call Phil at work. Twenty minute later, Phil was slowly pulling out towels and sheets while I held a bare-bulb lamp toward the cupboard like a sword. I knew a tarantula or a giant millipede would be emerging soon. Hopefully dead. With every item Phil pulled out and shook, my anticipation -- and heart rate -- increased.

Turns out it was only a cockroach. Disgusting and incredibly large, but just a cockroach. Phil trapped it in a tupperware and took it outside where he splattered it on the driveway.

And I disinfected the cupboard. Phil duct-taped the trap door in the back of the cupboard where the little bastard probably got in. And I re-stocked it with freshly-laundered linens, about 1/3 of what had been in there.

Purging complete. But squirminess not quite gone yet.

Happy Easter from the Peeps

China and Snow Angel got into the spirit of the season this morning : )

Hawaiian Long-Necked Sheep?

We were driving... and driving... and driving along the coast of Hawaii's Big Island, on our way to see Volcanoes National Park. As the landscape changed -- which it does so dramatically on this island -- we passed fields of volcanic rock, coffee plantations, farmstands. And then we came upon the livestock farming region. Beautiful ebony cows, horses, goats, sheep. And then some sheep with really long necks.

Really long necks.

I was thrilled. On this beautiful island, which I was quickly falling in love with, we found something that made it even more amazing -- the Big Island Alpaca Farm.

Ever since I first felt alpaca wool about five years ago, I have coveted it as the ultimate in natural fibre. It is one of the world's rarest natural fibres. It's luxuriously soft, exceptionally light, and warmer than wool.

I've made beautiful sweaters out of alpaca, and an alpaca-silk blend is unrivaled in its luxury and drape.

And the animals are adorable. Who couldn't love that face?

A friend of mine from Montreal told me that he had researched alpaca farming and found it to be an elitist and money-losing venture. But local small-town farmers can't all be wrong, can they?

Today, two chickens. Tomorrow, an alpaca farm...

Cabbage Time

The western end of our garden doesn't get much sun. Maybe four hours a day. So it was a long shot planting anything there. But we gathered the cruciferous vegetables (Brussel's sprouts and cabbage) in that corner and hoped for the best. Eight plants later, and we have succeeded in growing... one cabbage.

I picked it just before dinner tonight and sliced it open. Fresh coleslaw! Looks like I disturbed someone's home though:

These little guys are so slimy even the chickens won't eat them. But I threw him into the yard to fend for himself and made some yummy slaw. And I won't put those plants in that corner of the garden again.

Anyone have any suggestions for a veggie that grows well in low sun?

Fun Fact of the Day - Fresh Eggs?

According to the food gurus at Better Homes and Gardens:

You can easily gauge eggs' freshness by gently placing them in a bowl of cold water. Really fresh eggs will drop to the bottom of the bowl and lie on their sides. Somewhat fresh eggs will stand on end and bob about in the water. Old eggs will float -- and should be discarded.

Well there you go.

One of These Things is Not Like the Others...

Snow Angel, growing fatter by the day, was looking like she was better suited for the soup pot than for laying... until yesterday. We came home to find not one egg in the nest box, but two. And there was no question who this second egg came from: