Tuesday, May 21, 2013

A Visit From The DIY Fairy

 This past Sunday we had a very special guest at the homestead. Julie Sabatier from Destination DIY (www.destinationdiy.org) stopped by to interview us. We spent about a week trying to get the 'stead looking nice; all the while the kiddos built forts and damned up irrigation canals and basically created chaos. All in all, by the time Sunday morning rolled around, everything looked about as chaotic as it usually does. Which I suppose, is at least truthful. I did manage to vacuum the living room though, less than 20 minutes before she came! She might have caught me on her mic, bribing the kids to be on their best behavior. There was the choice of money or video time involved. Oh what she must think of my parenting skills!
Lucky thing for us, one of our broody mama ducks decided that morning was the perfect morning to show off her just-hatched chicks. In addition to our 9 two week old ducky chicks and 3 week and a half old goslings, it was super cool to show her 10 just-out-of-the-egg ducklings. Whitney Houston and Maybelle (goatie extraudinairs) tried to eat her radio bag, of course, and Poncho Villa (our roo) wouldn't crow for her despite our chasing him frantically around the Habitat. The rabbits ignored us and the chickens clucked contently for her radio mic.
Ms. Sabatier spent a few hours asking us questions about the livestock and our ethics behind the choice to homestead. By the end of our time together, my tongue was dry and I'd contemplated never speaking about myself again! She asked quite a few questions of the kiddo's and I'll admit that I'm so darn proud of Joshua, Jason and Stella's answers to her probing questions. They spoke candidly and wisely. Sometimes I get so caught up in the day to day work that I loose out on really enjoying how intelligent and insightful my kids are. I'm so amazed they came from Nik and I! I'm also proud of myself; I only lost myself once to a fit of giggles at the awesomeness of the moment! And of course, Nik was well poised and beautiful the whole time, as he always is. The segment Ms. Sabatier interviewed us for is concerning homesteading and it should be out on her website, www.destinationdiy.org, in June and it'll be on OPB radio sometime in July or August. Each one of these events that happen in our lives, whether it be a spot in a local magazine or a quib in the newspaper or a few minutes on the radio, helps to create a wonderful childhood for the kids. When they're awesome adults doing amazing things, they can reach back and hear or read a little bit about their childhood and for that, I can't ever be thankful enough.