Settled! And possibly back for good...

Wow. Where does the time go? Hard to believe I started this blog in 2008! Life has seriously gotten in the way, but it is entirely possible that we have a handle on things now. Oh, how I've missed you!

Quick update:  We bought our home August 31, 2012. We spent our last rental year in the inner city of Schenectady, NY. It was beyond miserable, and I'm not quite sure how we managed to get through it. I've never been so homesick in my life. But now we're in our sweet little white and green foursquare on a quarter acre in a tiny town on the Hudson River. Back to the mountains and homegrown crunchy hippie land. WE ARE HOME!  Insert big smiles here.

The Tall Guy continues his battle against chronic Lyme disease and related co-infections. He's been on antibiotics almost non-stop, and had a PICC line in 2011/2012. Like I said a hundred weeks ago, I won't go into his illness in great detail here. It has eaten our lives and I want this blog to be a safe place where I don't have to think about it. That said, if you are struggling with vector-borne disease, or want any information, please feel free to message me. I would be more than happy to help you locate resources. And my heart is with you.

I have a grandson! We call him Mander, and he may just be the most perfect child in the history of humanity. Grandmotherhood has completed me in ways that single-motherhood often fell short. Love him this much.

Oh, and one more big piece of news: I quit my day job! Yes I did. I opened my own business. Actually a few different lines of business. I have a jewelry/craft thing that soothes my spirit, a home-inspection gig suits my need to ramble, and a construction-consultancy that actually pays the bills.

We continue to take baby steps on our path to off-grid self sustainability. Gardening was impossible this year, we're working on getting the house together, and it's a challenge with The Tall Guy's health. But we are fortunate to live in an area loaded to the ears with local farms, markets and CSAs. More pickles this year!

So now you're all caught up :)  I have pics of a recent knitting machine rehab that I want to post, since info is scarce for my particular model (Singer LK-100). I'll also put up some pics of my jewelry and crafts. I promise to stop by more often with tutorials, tips and tricks for living simply in a complex world. Blessed be, my friends.

House Hunting, Lyme Disease and the Quest for Homemade Brown Rice Syrup

I think it's safe to say the everyone got through the holidays all right - now if we can just get through the winter! Holy snowballs, enough already! It doesn't matter what part of the country you live in, we're all taking a beating this winter. Hopefully everyone is safe and warm, surrounded by family and friends while we dig out time and again.

On the homefront: The Tall Guy continues his battle against Lyme disease with me firmly by his side. It's a long aggravating tale of which I'm not going to share much here. If you have or suspect you may have Lyme, any of its co-infections, MS, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue or any one of about a thousand illnesses that may be Lyme in disguise - CALDA is our favorite place to start. The California Lyme Disease Association at www.lymedisease.org also has a terrific Facebook page. Check it out, it's really a wealth of information.

The Girlchild got married a week before Christmas. We love her new hubby, AJ. He's funny and slightly twisted, so he's a really good fit with the rest of the family. They're very happy and we're happy for them.

The Boychik is doing well. Talking about returning to school in the fall to start a liberal arts curriculum. His girlfriend, Vee, has been a terrific influence on him, so naturally we love her also. They're both modeling for an art school and bringing in some respectable bucks. Good for them!

We are finally actively searching for a home! We don't know if we will find our dream or our interim yet. Since The Tall Guy is so ill with no end in sight, we may need to adjust our fantasies of small-scale farming. Which is okay. We're happy to support our local CSAs if we can't grow our own. We can still have many of the things we want - off-grid power, shelves full of preserves and a dairy goat. Who of course will need a cashmere goat for a friend! So we'll either start off with some land and an old country house, or buy a place within civilization and rent it out down the road.

I'm working on developing a craft business. It's terribly complicated in the legal sense, and insanely fulfilling in every other way. It's wonderful to have a creative outlet and show it off! I have a business name and website. As soon as I'm established, I will post links.

One of things we've been working on is adjusting The Tall Guy's diet to better control his illness. Sugar is a terrible catalyst for him, but he seems to tolerate alternatives. Agave, stevia, grain syrups, etc. Sigh. Baking with stevia is complicated! Brown rice syrup is a good choice, but expensive to buy and almost impossible to make at home. Not sure where we'll end up, but we will get off the evil sugar train.

So what's up with you?