Rachael Eliker's Blog, page 54

Hooray for Hail!

I've been postponing writing about redoing our roof like it would harrow up all the feelings of having worked on it: vertigo, sheer exhaustion, frustration...at times it seemed like it would never end but eventually, it did. I've recovered, Jack recovered, the kids recovered, the garden recovered (mostly...). So, here's how we got a new roof on our monstrous house in about a week.
Date night tearing up shingles.Sometimes horrible weather lends to some good luck. We had a few pretty impres...

Pros and Cons

Last week, Jack was gone on another work trip, which sends me into the survival mode of single parenthood. So, naturally, I decided to cut my hair off. Like, a good 12 inches off. If that doesn't help save time, I don't know what would.
Though I've enjoyed donating my hair in the past, there's always a bit of sadness when my locks are gone. So, I ran a mental pros and cons list of short versus long hair to make sure I wasn't being too rash. Here it is:
 PROS (a.k.a. reasons to cut hair sho...

Monkey Vine

Me Tarzan. You Jane.Back in the horse pasture, a rather unlucky tree is being overtaken by a very persistent vine. Since moving to Indiana, I've noticed that where there are more trees, there are always more vines. I guess it makes sense that a plant that climbs other things capitalizes on the fact that there are other tall things around it to creep up. And, as long as it's not poison ivy, I'm okay with letting nature take it's funky course on this one.
The vine-y spot itself is kind of neat. I...

An Orchard

I don't know why the first thing I do when we move to a new house isn't to plant fruit trees. Initially, they're pretty pricey, especially if we have to buy multiple types to cross pollinate, but they've always been a good investment. You know, because if you do it right, you actually get fruit from the tree.
So, since the nursery nearby was having a sale on its trees, Jack and I decided it was time to invest. He'd already been gifted a few peach trees, one of which even tried to grow a l...

Lake Michigan

Thanks to all of Jack's work trips, he'd earned enough points for a free stay at a hotel, so, before he left on another work trip, we decided to take a quick vacation and enjoy some family time. It'd been a few years since we'd been up to the Great Lakes and Dunes and that's where we decided to go.
Good thing the dash is big enough for Kate to curl up on.We picked Evelyn and Claire up right after school and drove a couple hours north (which somehow put us in a different time zone. Weird)...

Poor Man's Stew

Since I only go grocery shopping every two weeks (you know, save on gas and sanity--it's only torture twice a month!) we can sometimes be stretching our fruits and veggies to last until we can go get more. This recipe was perfect in many ways because it was hearty, flavorful and filling while still being made of ingredients we had readily on hand. Pair it with some 30-minute dinner rolls and black raspberry jam or honey and dinner hardly takes any effort at all!

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef...

Taming the Wilderness

There's a garden in there. Somewhere.Though we got our garden in on time this year, it hasn't flourished like we hoped. After an unseasonably cool spring, the garden fell victim to the roof. By victim, I mean I didn't weed or water or barely look it for about a month while I mentally recovered from the long, hard labor of roofing. Thanks for all your help, Henry!One thing I loathe is untidiness. Ironic with so many children and a fixer-upper house and a farm with loads of filthy animals, I kno...

Interdependence

The horses demonstrate interdependence perfectly: "I'll swish the flies off your face and you swish the flies off mine."In the progress of personality, first comes a declaration of independence, then a recognition of interdependence.
Henry Van Dyke

PCB, FL

Every few years, Jack's family tries to have a family reunion. Easier said than done when it currently consists of coordinating housing, meals, and activities for nearly 30 people. That's a big family! The last one was over the 4th of July 2014 in Nebraska, where we also made a trip down to Worlds of Fun and it was a blast but this year, my mother-in-law asked if we could return to her childhood vacation spot in Florida.
Holding a crab about two seconds before it pinched her.Aft...

The Boy Is One

The boy is one!Boy, that year went fast! It seems like only yesterday, we were trying to figure out what to name him and now, he's a thriving, healthy, gigantic boy (he may be one, but he's the size of a two year old) that has become an integral part of our family.
A happy way to start a birthday.One of the girls' favorite things about birthdays is that they get to do whatever they want, which they repeatedly told Henry (they fully expect him to understand everything they say to him. He i...