Coffee CSA

If you've been following my blog for any amount of time, you'll know that I'm something of a tree-hugger.  And a coffee lover.  And I try to be socially conscious.  Yes, I'm one of "those" people.  You can go ahead and call me a bleeding-heart liberal.  I promise I won't cry.  So when LaRissa spoke to the church about slavery in the world today, I was horrified to think that my coffee could be (and probably was) harvested by people who were not paid a living wage, or in fact, any wage at all.  Yeah, I know.  I probably should have thought of that.  I said I try to be socially conscious, I didn't say I was perfect.  Interestingly enough, Jonathan did not know any of this, as I quietly started buying Fair Trade coffee without saying anything.  He, knowing my love for wanting to save the world in my own small way, sent me this link to a coffee cooperative last week.  I jumped all over it, and we got our first shipment today!

I can't wait to try it out!  :)

Happy Good Friday. Happy Earth Day.

The following is going to be a little out there for some of you.  It's a little out there for me.  I usually keep politics and religion off my blog.  Not today.  You have been warned.

Today is Good Friday.  And Earth Day.  As someone who cares deeply about the planet and conservation, but who is also a Christian, I am often conflicted.  It would seem that many of the Christians I know believe that conservationism is best left to the democrats.  And of course you can't be a Christian and a democrat.  (That was sarcasm, by the way.)  Most of the time I feel like I don't fit in anywhere, but that's a story for another day.  I find it interesting though that we need Earth Day for the very reason that we need Jesus and Good Friday.  Stick with me, here.

After the fall in the garden, God punished Adam and Eve
Genesis 3:16-19
¹⁶ To the woman he said,
   “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;
   with painful labor you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
   and he will rule over you.”
 ¹⁷ To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’
   “Cursed is the ground because of you;
   through painful toil you will eat food from it
   all the days of your life.
¹⁸ It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
   and you will eat the plants of the field.
¹⁹ By the sweat of your brow
   you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
   since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
   and to dust you will return.”

So what have we done?  Everything in our power to escape the consequences of being being kicked out of the garden.  Chemical fertilizers pollute our water supplies.  We've covered our crops in pesticides to make them easier to grow.  The suffix -icide means someone or something that kills a particular person or thing, or the act of killing.  I don't know about you, but I don't really want poison on my food.  We eat an awful lot of produce in our household, as I only cook vegetarian.  Even if you don't eat as much produce as we do, your meat does.  I have to think that all that poison is going to catch up with us eventually.  We buy organic as much as possible but there is a vast price difference.

And oh, how we've (literally) butchered childbirth!  What should be a lovely, natural experience has turned into an emotionally traumatic event for so many women.  All because we were trying to escape the pain.  I won't say more, because this one is still very raw for me.

So I think it's appropriate that we should remember the sacrifice that Jesus made for us on a day when we also consider the planet that He created for us.  Because really, if we were still living in the garden, Christ would never have needed to make that sacrifice.  If we were still living in the garden, caring for the Earth would be what we naturally did.  Today, when you're thanking God for the price that He paid for us, maybe you could take a moment to thank him for the beautiful Earth He made for us to live in.  Or maybe you could hug a tree and remember that lonely cross that the Lord hung on to save us.

Cloth diapering 201

I have known for a long time that any future babies that I had would wear cloth on their bums, so I spent literally years researching my options.  What I learned, was that for a newborn, the best options are either a rental package, or prefolds and covers.  Now, a lot of women buy used diapers, or go for the rental packages with fitted diapers for their little ones, and that works well.  I kinda get the heebie-jeebies about things like used underwear, swimsuits, shoes...  You get the idea.  I don't mind so much if I actually know the person they're coming from, but a rental?  I couldn't get over my heebie-jeebies about that one, so I went the prefold and cover route.  Prefolds are really super easy to use, and pretty much indestructible!  Like any routine with baby, we have become more settled than we first were.  Very quickly, I discovered that changing a boy on my bed with just a pad underneath would not work.  It doesn't matter if you cover him with a wipe, about every third time, he's going to pee everywhere.  We had quite a few tinkle fountains in our first days home, so I invested in a changing pad for our dresser.  I love my changing set up, as everything is in place and easy to reach.

It took me a little longer to decide that folding the diaper, putting baby on it and pulling out the edges was silly.  Now, I just lay him on the diaper out flat and fold the front edges in.  Much easier than trying to pull the back edges out!

I am also loving the snappis we got, which I didn't use much at first.

Probably one of the reasons that it took me so long to decide that putting Zachariah on the diaper flat was easier was because I was trying to get the diaper and cover on all at the same time.  Everything had to be placed just right in this particular scenario, and a wrigely baby didn't always cooperate.  Really, diaper first, then cover.

Now, let's talk rashes for a minute.  We've had ONE that was nasty to get rid of.  The coconut oil just didn't cut it.  Even Bordeaux' Butt Paste by itself didn't cut it.  I mixed Butt Paste, probiotic powder, and Neosporin together and kept it slathered on him for several days to get rid of this monster that seemed to be caused by atomic poop.  I never could figure out what I was eating that disturbed him so, but he hasn't had a bad rash in a month or so.  ANYway...  Regular diaper cream can't go in a cloth diaper, because it causes the fabric to repel.  While we had to put this oh so lovely mixture of goop on Zachariah's bum, I used some of the fabric that I had originally intended to make wipes out of, as liners.  I also used some of the unfinished fabric as wipes that I kept separate from the rest of my wipes so that they wouldn't get the cream on them either.  Before tossing a used diaper in my wet bag, I removed the liner, and rinsed both the liner and wipe out in the sink.  Those went in with a towel load instead of the diaper load just to ensure that NONE of the cream got on my diapers.  I got a GroVia Magic Stick that is cloth diaper safe (but not quite strong enough to completely get rid of his rash) to use when we were out and about so I didn't risk forgetting to separate everything out before throwing it in the wash.  Now, I know this may sound crazy complicated, but really it's not.  It took me a while to figure out what the best course of action was for his rash.  I tried several different things, including various "cloth friendly" creams before I finally settled on this particular cocktail of stuff and resigned myself to using liners.  Frankly, my prejudice against liners was far worse to overcome than actually using them was.  I keep a basket full of that scrap fabric by the changing pad now just in case we have another rash like that one.  You can clearly see the build up from the diaper cream on the dark liners.  Glad I didn't get any of that on my diapers!

Once it was gone, though it hasn't come back.  I can't say that given our family's history of sensitive skin that I'm shocked to find that Zachariah, too needs his bum babied.  I simply use coconut oil every time I change him so that he will have that barrier between him and the poop.  That seems to have done the trick, and my basketful of liners and emergency wipes sits unused 99.9% of the time.

As I'm sure you can tell, Zachariah is quickly outgrowing the infant sized prefolds that I have.  My other reason for choosing to go this route was that prefolds are so versatile.  I am working on making pocket diapers to stuff them in.  I have some super cute ones I love, made by my favourite work at home mom (WAHM), and some absolutely adorable flannel that my sister sent me waiting for me to sew some of my own.

Beyond pocket diapers and a Magic Stick for travel, I haven't added much to my diaper stash.  I did splurge on an all-in-one diaper for Zachariah's Christmas outfit.  Why?  Because it had sock monkeys on it!  I mean really, who can resist sock monkeys?  As an aside, I put Zachariah on his stomach to take these pictures, and he discovered that he could roll over.  :)

This is the only diaper I have that doesn't require a cover.  It has a hidden layer of PUL which makes it waterproof.  I know that a lot of moms want a diaper that is the most like a disposable in usage.  This is it.  You put it on, pin it, and go.  I could have had snaps added, but I find that I really prefer pins or velcro over snaps.

I know you're thinking "All that is fine and good, but you still have to wash them.  Ewwwww!"  Let's talk washing routine for a bit.  First of all, the only time I actually touch dirty diapers is when I change the baby.  Really.  They go into my wet bag, and I turn it inside out in the washer, and that's it.  Because breastfed poop is completely water soluble, I don't even have to rinse them out yet, so even when I'm changing I don't touch much.  Once the bag is inside out in the washer, I set my HE washer to do a short wash on cold with no spin.  I like to add a small scoop of Oxy Clean to this wash just to give it a little extra stain fighting, (more on that in a minute) but that's totally not necessary.  The purpose of this first wash is to rinse all the poop and urine out, so that when you run the main wash, the water isn't full of pee and poop.  For my machine, I don't have the ability to add extra water to a wash (I know some HE machines have a setting that lets you add water to the load) so not spinning the water out of the short wash is especially important.  That way, the sensor on the washer thinks you have a larger load than you actually have, and uses more water.  I know some mommas have solved this problem by adding a wet towel to the load, which can work, too.  Once my short wash is finished, I run a heavy duty wash on hot wash/cold rinse.  I use 1 tablespoon of Country Save laundry detergent, and put 3 drops of tea tree oil in the fabric softener compartment for a little extra bacteria fighting action.  Occasionally, I also add some vinegar in with the tea tree oil just to keep things fresh.  Once the diapers are clean, I throw them in the drier without a drier sheet, because the oils in them can build up on the diapers and cause them to repel.  The one thing I really feel I could use is a drying rack so I could hang my diapers out to dry in the sun.  I understand that the very best thing for those lovely yellow breastfed poop stains is some good old-fashioned sunshine.  I had a clothesline, and was really looking forward to hanging our diapers to dry, but my HOA made me take it down.  Someone must have ratted us out, because it was not at all visible from the street (it was my impression that as long as it was under the fence line that your backyard was your backyard.  Silly me.) and the HOA isn't supposed to be able to come on your property to look in the backyard.  I've been kinda dragging my feet about getting a drying rack because the weather hasn't been great.  And I'm still a little torqued that I had to take down my clothesline.  One of these days.

So how about the nitty-gritty?  What do I really like, and not like?
~ I LOVE my prefolds.  Super easy to use and oh-so indestructible.  They absorb well, and dry fast.  Not to mention that this is absolutely the most affordable diapering option available.
~ I really like pocket diapers.  again, stuffed with prefolds, they absorb well, and are durable.  Pockets have the added benefit of not needing to be folded when baby is in them.  You just wrap, pin (or not!) cover, and go.  Not to mention the cute factor.  Yes, you have to use a cover, but you also cover up those cute lacy panties that I know you're wearing.  ;)  The down side is that they have to be stuffed before hand (not a big deal, I usually do this while watching TV in the evening) and unstuffed before washing (again, not a big deal, I just pull the prefold out before I throw it in the wet bag.  My hands are dirty from changing the baby anyway, so it doesn't bother me at all).  They are also a bit bulkier than just the prefolds alone, which can be bothersome under certain outfits.
~ I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with my Thirsties Duo covers.  I love the gussets in the legs.  Zachariah's legs are a little bit on the thin side, and these gussets really hold everything in.  I have never had a leak with them as long as the diaper is completely tucked into the cover.  I love how well these have laundered.  They've been washed 3 or so times a week for 3 months now, and show almost no signs of wear and tear.  I love that the rise is adjustable so that they will fit him longer than a sized cover, and I can also let it out over bulkier diapers.  On the other hand, I don't love that the rise snaps sometimes come undone when I'm pulling them up over the diaper.  I have heard that this is not a problem on the Duos with the snap closure.  All but one of my Thirsties are velcro closure, and interestingly enough, I don't have as much trouble with the rise snaps coming undone on my snap cover.  I don't know why this should be the case, but I've heard it from other moms, and my experience does seem to validate that claim.  I also don't love the white trim.  Really people?  White?  On a diaper?  Not the best idea.  Bottom line, I do think these are great covers, and unless I find something else that rocks my socks off, I'll probably stick with the size 2s when he outgrows these.
~ I'm not at all crazy about the GroBaby (now GroVia) diapers I purchased.  I really thought these were going to be the diapers that I was going to love.  In reality, the breastfed poo never stays on the soaker pads, so the shell has to be changed every time he poops.  I never feel like the mesh liner on the inside of the shells dries between changes without smelling a bit, so that's a drawback, too.  I have better success using the shells as covers with my prefold or pocket diapers, but they don't have gussets, so I find it more difficult to get a good fit on the legs.  As adorable as my GroBaby shells are, they really haven't laundered as well as my other covers, and are showing definite signs of wear around the edges.  It could be user error, as I've been drying them and should probably have been hanging them to dry.  Oops.  I've debated selling, but really want to give them one more chance to wow me once we start solids, and the poop isn't as runny.
~ Don't bother with Amy Coe designer diaper pins from Babies R Us.  Although they're adorable, and clearly state on the package that they have a "functional point", I don't find them to be nearly as sharp as the plain ol' diaper pins.  They're also smaller than a standard size diaper pin, and close on the opposite side.  Too bad.  I love the monkeys.
~ I received a Gen Y cover as a shower gift, and it is super-duper adorable.  These are sized covers, and Zachariah is just now growing into them, so I don't have a long-term impression yet.  They lack the gussets that I love so much, and also have snap closures, which I'm not all that mad on.  I always feel like it's easier to get a good fit with velcro.  So far, we haven't had any leaks with them, and I definitely love that the trim isn't white!  And really, how cute is that?

~ I also received a Planet Wise wet bag for a gift, and love it for my diaper bag!  It zips, so it's a little easier to use than the drawstring, and has a snap handle, so if the used diapers get too bulky to fit back into my diaper bag, I can just snap the wet bag to the strap of my bag.  Jonathan and I are planning a short trip in March, and I will be buying a large Planet Wise bag for it.

~ As far as fitted diapers go, I did receive two as gifts at my baby shower, and it's definitely fun to have a couple on hand.  If I had a "Tatiana's favourite" category, these would go under that. They're quick, they're easy, and no folding is involved.  As far as I'm concerned, I will probably keep one or two on hand just because, but it's not worth having a whole stash, financially, as they're much more expensive than prefolds and pockets.
~ I'm not sure what I think about all-in-ones.  My sock monkey diaper is pretty much the cutest thing evah, but I'm not sure I love it, functionally.  I may not have prepped it enough, but I feel like it doesn't stay quite as dry as my prefolds and covers.  It could be that fit on my little man's skinny legs again, too.  I'm definitely NOT going to get rid of it, and I may try some more, but it's not my go-to diaper.

What about products that I'm looking to try next?
~ As aforementioned, a drying rack to sun my diapers.
~ Blueberry Coveralls.  I've heard great things about these from friends, and they have gussets!  These are a one size cover, so wouldn't be good for newborn babies (Unless you have whopper babies like I do.  lol) but should last a good long while.
~ Weehuggers covers.  Because oh my goodness, the guitars and jungle animals are adorable!  They, also are one sized, and have leg gussets.  No white trim, either.  Score!
~ Sewing my own.  My friend, Kim made a couple off the Rita's Rump Pocket pattern (and I'm just about certain that Hip Mama's pocket diapers are based on this pattern, too) and let me try them out.  They're super cute, work great, and she assures me that they're easy to make.  Just gotta find the time.  I'll let you know how that goes!  ;)
~ Wool covers.  Wool is naturally antimicrobial, and completely waterproof when lanolized.  I have an old wool sweater that I need to prep and try to make a cover out of.  Again, I'll let you know how that goes!  lol
~ Bagshot Row Bamboo.  I hear SO much about these diapers on my cloth diaper chat board.  When Zachariah outgrows the fitted diapers I have, I'm going to try out a BSRB just for the fun of it.

There you have it, folks.  My lovely cloth diaper novel from A to Z.  It's three months in, and I still love cloth diapering!  It may be a little more work than just throwing it in the trash, but it honestly doesn't bother me, and is worth every second of that extra work to know that a) there are no chemicals on my son's bum and b) 500 years later his dirty diapers aren't still going to be stewing in a landfill somewhere.

If you think you might be interested in cloth diapering, or babywearing, I'm going to be having a demo at my house on the 31st of this month.  Send me a message, and I'll get you all the info!  :)

Making laundry detergent

Earlier this year, I blogged about making things.  One of the things I like to make is laundry detergent.  It's great!!!  This saves us lots of money, and has fewer additives than store bought detergent.  The recipe involves three ingredients and water.  Borax can be found pretty much anywhere in the laundry aisle.  Washing soda can be a bit more difficult to come by.  I found mine in the laundry aisle at Market Street.  You can really use any old bar of soap, but I like Dr. Bronner's hemp castile soap for a couple of reasons.  First, it's made from natural, fair trade ingredients, second, because it has essential oils in it that smell yummy.  :)

To begin with, put 4 cups of water in a pot to boil.  While water is coming to a boil, grate your bar of soap.  This is the most labour intensive step of making the detergent, and takes a little under ten minutes.  I really thought grating soap would be much more difficult, but it's not at all.

Once the water is boiling, add the grated soap a bit at a time, and stir until it's dissolved.

You'll end up with soapy soup!

Add 3 gallons of warm water to a large bucket with a lid, 2 cups washing soda, 2 cups borax, and your soap soup.  Stir well, put the lid on your bucket and let it sit for 24 hours.

Here is the last little bit of detergent I poured out of my bucket before I made the new detergent.  As you can see, it sort of congeals and has some clumps in it.

I keep a long spoon on top of my bucket to stir the detergent with each use because it will separate, as well as a 1/4 cup to measure it.  This recipe lasted us for six whole months!  It's SO much less expensive than the 7th Generation laundry detergent that we were buying, and no one's skin has had a reaction to it, which is always questionable around here when we switch detergents or soaps.  :)  This whole process takes me a grand total of about thirty minutes.  Twice a year?  To save a TON on laundry detergent?  I'll take it!  :)

More fluff!

I spent some time this afternoon with a sweet friend here in Anna who makes and sells cloth diapers.  She also homeschools her kiddos, so we had plenty to talk about.  :)  ANYWAY...  It was great to be able to actually physically pick up all the different kinds of diapers she sells, and I brought home a couple of snappis, and some very pretty dyed prefolds.  I think I may have to pick out an even dozen in different colours.  These are gonna be so cute on my little Zachariah's bum!  :)

**UPDATED**  I didn't have the snappis out of the package for long before Celestia and Tatiana asked how they work, so we had a brief cloth diaper training session with a teddy bear.  :)

Cloth diaper stash... continued!

When I ordered our first round of cloth diapers, the fabulous Megan at Pampered Buns sent a coupon for some free cloth wipes along with the order.  Of course, I went back to her for our second round of cloth dipes!  :)  "One size" diapers almost never fit newborn babies, so you need something to use for at least the first month or so to get the baby up to a size where they'll fit.  Our plan is to use prefolds, and covers.  Now, before you start wrinkling your nose, and thinking of white plastic pants, take a look at these!

Aren't they adorable???  These are Thirsties Duo diaper covers in a size one.  They fit from 6 to roughly 18 pounds, so we'll get much more use out of them than we would out of a small fitted cover.  They can be used over fitted diapers, or over prefolds.  Our newborn stash is now just about complete.  I will be purchasing some infant prefolds to go in them, which we will be able to use for extra absorbency even when they're too small to wrap around the baby by simply tri-folding them and putting them in a shell!

I think these wipes are absolutely adorable, don't you?  I'll be making many more soon, but since I had the coupon, I figured that would be 3 wipes that I wouldn't have to sew myself!  :)

Nature baby

Even before we knew we were having a boy, we had planned on a nature theme for our accessories.  I actually even bought some green baskets for storing things a couple of weeks ago, because I was lucky enough to run across them on clearance.  Last weekend, I went to various fabric and craft stores looking for rainforest inspired fabric to make a diaper bag, and just wasn't happy with what I was finding.  I had hoped for something with parrots, monkeys, lizards, and frogs.  No luck.  All these things, I found individually, but none together.  Interestingly enough, the cutest fabric I found was at Wal-Mart of all places.  It's not exactly rainforest inspired, but it does have lizards and frogs!  :)

You may also notice that there's matching yarn, which Celestia is going to make a baby blanket with.  Nana taught her how to crochet, and she's a champ at it!

Baby's first fluff!

Are these the cutest cloth diapers, or what?!  Now, I know what most of you probably envision when you hear the phrase "cloth diapers".  You're thinking of Gerber prefolds and ugly white plastic pants that are impossible to get on a squirmy baby.  Let me assure you that unless you're a glutton for punishment, today's cloth is nothing like the cloth your grandmother used.  This particular diapering system is GroBaby brand.  They're a one size, hybrid cloth diaper.  What does that mean?  The waterproof shell is only changed if you have an extra messy diaper.  What you change every time, are the inserts.  I chose these because they dry faster than an all-in-one diaper, and also because you can fold a standard prefold (but not a Gerber!  They're filled with polyester and don't absorb well.) in thirds and use as an insert in addition to buying the GroBaby inserts.  The snaps are what makes them one size.  Snap them all the way up for a little baby.

Let them out a row for a bigger infant.

And let them out all the way for a toddler.

 Now, realistically, "one size" diapers aren't really.  Depending on how long it takes to potty train, we may need to purchase larger toddler diapers, and newborns still need prefolds and covers, but the covers are much like these diapers in that they come multi-sized and have velcro closures just like disposables.  You can choose to wrap your prefold diaper around the baby and use a snappi to fasten it, you can fold the prefold in thirds and put in in the cover just like in these diapers, or you can even wrap it around the baby and leave it unfastened, letting the cover do the work!
The best part?  Well, there's several really.  First, you can know you're doing something good for the planet.  The amount of disposable diapers that get sent to a landfill each year is astounding, and they take over 500 years to decompose!  Whew!  I had never thought of it before, but once I did, the tree-hugger in me couldn't stand it!  I also really like to try to keep as many unnatural chemicals out of our house as possible.  All the stuff that's in those disposable diapers is pretty yucky.  Believe me, I had one bust open once (forgot a swim diaper at the lake.  What's a girl to do?) and it was NASTY!!!  If I had really thought hard about it, I would have realised that the chemicals were probably what caused poor Celestia to get such horrible diaper rashes.  Of course, realistically, I know that not everyone is a tree-hugger or a naturalist, but everyone loves to save money, right?  Disposable diapers cost (based on conservative estimates) around $60 a month.  Assuming your baby is potty trained by age two, that's almost $1500 in diapers alone!  Cloth may be more expensive up front (why do you think I'm starting to build my stash now?) but even considering a few extra loads of laundry a week, it will never add up to that much.
So that, my friends, is why I'm choosing to cloth diaper.  I know it's not for everyone.  You can take it or leave it.  I'll love you either way.  People are going to call me crazy, and I know that.  If I'm not used to that by now, there's a problem!  ;)  If, however, you are interested in trying cloth, GroBaby diapers are all on clearance right now for 25% off from pampered buns, and Megan is AWESOME to work with!!!  I'm definitely going to order as much of my stash as possible from her just because she's super sweet and absolutely bends over backwards to get you what you need!  :)

First baby purchase!

Well folks, I did it!  I've been really restraining myself from buying anything for the baby since I found out I was pregnant in January!  I found out that the diapers I really want to try are being rebranded in May, and were on clearance, so I bought some!  These are a one-size, an all-in-2 type diaper, which means you have a shell that you put inserts (or prefolds!) in and you only have to change the inserts unless baby has a super messy diaper.  All the snaps can be taken in or let out to fit the baby for an extended period of time, so you don't have to buy tons of sizes.  I think both of these are absolutely adorable, and will go on either a boy or a girl, so I'm excited to get them!!!  :)

Happy Earth Day!!!

In honour of Earth Day we have been doing a mini unit on conservation this week. Today, Earth Day 2009, we spent the day outside attempting to beautify our somewhat neglected front yard, and limiting our use of electricity. After breakfast, I turned off my computer and told the girls that we would be using the minimal amount of electricity possible until after dinner.
A couple of years ago, our front tree bit it. We had the tallest one on the block and one day it suddenly developed large brown patches in the leaves. Despite our efforts to save it, it was gone within the week. We've been meaning to put another one in since, but never quite got around to it, so Tuesday night I went in to Wal-Mart and bought a little live oak. The girls had NO idea I was planning this, so it was a fun surprise for them.
After we finished planting the tree, arranging bricks, and topping it all off with organic potting soil, we had our (mostly) electricity-free picnic lunch of cheese, baked potato chips, peanuts, juice and organic vanilla yogurt with fruit and organic granola. YUMMY!
We finalised our yard work by pulling (some of the) weeds, and mowing. Yes, that is me you see with an old-school push mower, and yes that is the mower we use all the time. We always try to make a conserted effort to be environmentally friendly, and that is one of the ways we do it. Not to mention that you can mow at ANY time of the day without disturbing your neighbours!
After all of our tiring yard work, we enjoyed a chapter out of Anne of Windy Poplars while lounging in the shade on the front porch, and then went in to do a bit of conservation-themed school work. Most days we don't turn on the lights at all beacuse we have so many windows, so we of course didn't this afternoon, either.
The (mostly) electricity-free festivities were wrapped up with veggie "turkey" and meunster cheese sandwiches for dinner!