At The Passive Solar Prefab, We Sow, And Reap The Year.

What a year. A year of moving to the off grid passive solar prefab home, with deadlines and all sorts of chaos...

No wonder we embrace the opportunity for some equine therapy across the street!

Pipsqueak 2 is brushing the tail
while Pipsqueak 1 whispers sweet nothings into her ear...

There is a new horse in the fields... a magical Percheron Arabian...

This week I sowed winter rye in the field and around the passive solar prefab home site.

Durned dug up Virginia clay...
#DustWillFlyAwhileYet

Wait, you say: "Isn't it November?!?" Why the heck am I seeding rye in November? Oh, that's because the septic that was supposed to be done in July while I was gone... just happened. So only now can I seed. At least the ground has a week-ish to not totally freeze over and let the seed do something, maybe. Maybe.

Remember- I thought I had sealed the prefab home project finishing schedule this spring before I went off to Deltaville with the Pipsqueaks and Big Dawgs and chickunz, so to get out of their hair... So they could get things done... Well, at least its done, now.

This week the electrician returns, so completion in that area nears.

Off Grid Prefab Home Note:
Do You Have Questions About What It's Like To Live Off Grid Or In A Passive Solar Prefab Home?  Ask away in the comment field, and I will answer them in the next weeks!
 
Now, back to the holidays.
You may recall that last year, because of a magazine cover, we had to deck our mid-century modern home in Christmas in September.  That went directly against my adamant belief you should take one holiday at a time... but what could we do? Christmas in September it was.

This year we struggle with how to allow festive holiday tinsel while acknowedging the amount of continuous DUST indoors from the recently dug septic. This is a warning, folks: My vintage silver tree, I assure you, will be dully brown by Christmas!

Candy caned feral cat.

Candy caned feral cat.

• Architecture for dogs. http://architecturefordogs.com/  (Thanks, Justin!)
• Love art? Here's a video on my #RVA friend Catherine Brooks, now living in #LA!
  If you are near, her upcoming show opens December 1st!
  
  Catherine Brooks - An Artist Portrait from ShannonRowlandPhotograph on Vimeo.
• Top 10 Forecasts for 2013 and Beyond from The Futurist Magazine bit.ly/R82Spu
  >Love the aquaponics in every kitchen 
• Public input apparently was sought from #Appomattox residents as to whether they would like 5,000+ acres of biosolids to be dumped about their historic hometown...
  It sure is unfortunate no news coverage of this occurred until the day of the meeting, which incidentally was yesterday, the Monday after Thanksgiving... and that no actual contact names and information were given to have Appomattox resident's voices heard.
  
  If this is not attractive to you please do contact the folks at DEQ and your representatives. #virginia #biosolids #contamination #security #foodsecurity #organic #health
  
  http://www.dailypress.com/news/virginia/sns-ap-va--biosolids-meeting-20121125,0,3023945.story  

At the moment, the passive solar prefab home resonates with music.
Handsome Husband is playing Volksmusik aus dem Salzburgerland. A rousing polka with tuba and accordion thumps through the prefab. Help me, internet, help me...

[He, happily: "That makes me want to make Wiener Schnitzel tonight!"]

Handsome Husband gazes out the windows, at the foothills, beyond.
"Ahhhhh. Zis mu-zik makes me feel like I'm in Austria!"
We are always comparing the beauty of Virginia to the Alps, to the south of France and Spain, to Austria and Germany...
See, we don't have go anywhere, yet travel the world, in Pamplin Cit-tay Population 199...

There was eatin'.
[There is ALWAYS good eatin', here... ]

Pipsqueak 1's Apple Breakfast:
Slice apples, brown in a little butter, add cinnamon.

Fast French Company Soup:
Sautee sliced onions, until soft & browning,
add flour, stir constantly as it browns.
Add meat broth, salt, pepper.
In a separate pan cube & toast bread.
Add toasted bread to bottom of bowls.
Ladle soup over, top with a good cheese to soften in the hot soup.
*Yum*
Delicious in winter, and I suspect it hinders colds!

There was a wonderfully HUGE moon this week.
Going to kiss Pipsqueak 2 goodnight, I was surprised all of her lights were so quickly off- I usually turn out the last when she's asleep. Why were all the lights off?
"Because it's so glittery... I wanted to see it ALL."

These may be north facing windows, but
the architect placed them in the prefab
perfectly for views yet privacy...

She was right- through the casa ti's "T" of the middle bedroom windows, you could see the frosty field, everything in shades of silver under that huge, bright moon, the stars- so clear and many, the silent woods bordering in varying grays the beautiful open-ness of it all.

It was beautiful, and we took it all in, seeing so much despite it "dark"...

And then it was the weekend, with all the wonderful things we expectedly and unexpectedly do. A surprise friend for lunch, the planned-and-in-much-anticipation Appomattox Christmas Parade, many loud, sensory pieces, with many quiet moments.

Night or day, in "The Quiet Country" we are busy, busy, busy: to the library, riding, working, smiling, doing errands with and always, often, every week breaking bread with friends.
Stay loved, stay good, stay warm. 'Cause Baby: It's Cold Outside.