Greatland Gablog

Tundra Sunset

2011-02-06T19:15:00.000-08:00

Tundra Sunset
is tropically sweet
full of desire and desire
ever drinking, never quenched
voice of God calling me
in aching tones of love.

What's New

2011-02-05T20:05:00.000-08:00

Sara just made her first phone call. She called to see if her friends Bethany and Brianna could come over. Unfortunately, they were at the basketball game at the gym. Sara loves to write letters to her Grandmas.

Abby's sewing skills are improving and she is beginning to led Miriam in their devotions. Abby also learned how to use our camera to take a picture of her new stuffed giraffe and has mended that same giraffe.

Miriam is always up to something. This week she has improved her writing and is trying to write letters to Grandpa. She used a drawing book to draw a squirrel. She is also working on dressing herself to go outside and play in the snow.

Happy Trading

2011-01-25T12:50:00.000-08:00

Sometimes things come together so perfectly it has to be God. We are enjoying a "new" snowgo that will be easier to maintain.

We have been using Warren's brother Dan's machine which likes to race. It has been having problems with coolant freezing in our sub zero temperatures.

Our neighbor Bert suggested that he might want to trade machines with us. Bert's machine was fan-cooled, which we prefer for reliability in cold weather. But what Bert actually wanted was his mechanic friend Doug's three cylinder machine, which was working (though it isn't quite so fast as ours).

Bert talked to Doug and Doug was interested in our machine. So Bert helped Warren haul our machine to Doug, Bert got to drive home with Doug's machine, and Warren got to drive home with Bert's machine. Now everyone has a just right machine and just in time so we were able to haul water since our plumbing was frozen also. Amen.

Created To Live And To Know

2011-01-23T12:58:00.000-08:00

I have just finished watching Privileged Planet again. I am in awe of our Creator who is so wise.

How wonderful that the same things that support life allow for discovery of the workings of the universe. God made us to explore and learn as well as live and love!

Green Voyage II - The Hidden Green

2010-07-07T22:54:00.001-07:00

In my research of organic food, I heard a lot of talk about how organic food is expensive and some of it is. However, a lot of it is not so expensive.

We live in the Arctic where produce is hard to get, so for two years we have been subscribed to a CSA farm which sends us a box a week by plane. So nearly all of our produce is organic. We have virtually eliminated processed food and have become more vegan since we moved to the Arctic, so even where food is VERY expensive our food budget for five is between the USDA Thrifty Plan and their Low-Cost Plan. (It really doesn't take that much work either, I spend about the same amount of time processing produce a week as I do making bread, sauces, and beans, etc.)

I did an extensive calculation of our monthly food usage by ingredients and weight and discovered that we can eat about 60% organic for less than 50 dollars more a month. Most of the other 40% is not even available organically. We are waiting to see if we will be able to switch to a closer CSA. If we do switch, we will probably save at least $50 a month, so it really will not cost us extra after all. Of course, if we could have more than a postage stamp garden...

Eating organic really doesn't have to be that expensive if you eat unprocessed, vegan food.

Saving the earth is not such a cut and dry issue. So it is comforting to me that Carnegie Mellon reported in 2008 that eating vegan one day a week has more impact than eating local every day since transportation only accounts for 10% of food's greenhouse gas emissions. What is good for your heart is good for the earth.

It bothers me that so little talk about being green includes thrift stores, yard sales, home canning, and not eating meat and dairy. These have a greater impact than things that satisfy people's love of spending, convenience, and gluttony. (Meat eating has always been a luxury until this last century.)

Yet the greatest issue to me is people. Though the Bible tells us God cares about how we treat the earth. He told the Jews to let the earth rest (Lev. 25) and castigated them for not doing so

(2 Chr. 36:21). He also says in Revelation 11:8 that he will destroy those who destroy the earth.

But God cares more about people, they are the ones he gave his life for and are the only ones who will be left when the earth is destroyed when he comes. So while, I am not going to ignore environmental issues, I need to devote my energy to my family and the people around us and just enjoy God's green earth and its bounty.

A Green Voyage

2010-06-28T16:11:00.000-07:00

Since the beginning of this year I have become more and more concerned about improved our impact on the environment. The oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico only heightens my desire to be very green. But over the past few days, it has struck me that the average American who starts from the perspective of wanting to save the world often misses the boat.

Why do I say that? Because even though I have only recently become serious about being a good steward of the world God gave us, one of the carbon footprint tests I just took calculated our family's carbon emissions to be 33 tons a year. The average American by contrast gives off 130 tons of emissions, four times as much. The site stated that the world average is 27 tons, so we still have some work to do, but we have already done a lot with even trying.

How we did it was by trying to save money and eat more healthy. We have long bought most of our clothes used, in other words, recycled. So when I was researching organic cotton and finding it too expensive, I was happy to see that all of our used clothing makes a greater impact. I still hope that the price for earth-friendly underwear and socks will come down, but for now I will continue to buy recycled stuff. Our energy use is low as we try to walk more to be healthy and use less electricity to save money.

Where we live our own recycling options are limited, so fortunately our bulk buying and unprocessed food choices make it a minor issue. Our most processed foods are saltines, graham crackers, pasta and tortillas. I have ketchup, salsa, taco sauce, and spaghetti sauce recipes that I am going to be using as we eliminate those from our pantry. Take it from a lazy person, making your own breads, sauces, and spreads is not that hard.

I have been researching a switch to more organic foods over the last week. Nearly all our produce is already organic, thanks to a weekly CSA shipment and not having much produce available locally. In my research I discovered that much of the organic food industry food growth has been in over-packaged processed food, meat, dairy and poultry products. This does not help the problem and may be making things worse as some say it takes more land to farm organic animal products.

People need to save themselves from their debt-ridden, unhealthy lifestyles first before they try to save the earth. They will be far more effective and feel better if they do.

A Splashing Good Time

2010-06-22T21:26:00.000-07:00

The girls are really enjoying the river this year. Even though we have riverfront, I never took them down to play by or in the water. I guess there were too many other things to do, traveling, berry-picking, bird-watching, gardening. The river level has been very low so we have a bit of beach this year (unlike last year's unusually high water). The girls have been making sand castles, finding snails, and pretending a driftwood log was a ship. I found them some "oars" and we had some fun with them.

I have seen kids playing in the water, but never took the girls because of the mosquitoes and the cold. I just don't relish exposing that much skin just to go in a cold river. Yet today was so hot that I didn't feel like holding the girls back. So we went and the girls really enjoyed splashing around with the other kids. I even got my feet a little wet which felt wonderful until my mosquito bites started to itch.

I can't read this!

2009-08-30T15:50:00.000-07:00

I have long ago sworn off watching TV. It just isn't a part of my life and I don't miss it.
I haven't enjoyed popular music for almost as long. You can call me fuddy-duddy, but I am more "entertained" by a sermon or a Christian song. Everything else is just so cheap and meaningless. And I know this God's work in my life.

Last week, I read the Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck despite the feeling that I shouldn't. I feel the worse for having done so. It left me with so many negative emotions. It really was Ecclesiastes "all is vanity" personified. I have decided that I don't need that in my life. Just because you are reading doesn't mean you doing good. Books don't always make you think, but they always make you feel. Naturally, as I have sought a higher state of mind, I have given up murder mysteries and fantasy. But now I am no longer interested in the more "realistic" or historic novels. I have also decided to refuse to read any more celebrity biographies, they have such ridiculous, empty lives. I feel capable of understanding others without reading fiction about the ugliness of life. I can see plenty of that without reading about it for fun in my "free" time.

What I want is Truth which is so much better than reality. Reality can leave you feeling empty and desperate while Truth is full of wisdom and life and love and beauty.

Happy reading,
Verity

Bird Brain

2009-06-01T13:28:00.000-07:00

Honestly, I don't know what has come over me. Right now, I am desperate to go walk in the rain so I can determine if the birds I saw yesterday are yellow wagtails or yellow warblers. Warren noticed that the "hopping" flighted ones are yellow. And silly me, all this time, I thought they were white-crowned sparrows because they both are so common here. And it is really starting to bother me that I can't tell what kinds of sandpipers I am see when I am out.

Early this morning, I finally had the wit to use my binoculars in identifying the ducks on my neighbor's dock. After a long consultation with the bird book, and since they had the grace to return for a second look with the girls, I positively identified them as American wigeon. What beautiful birds, I am so giddy! Binoculars are the greatest things since sliced bread, I'll never go leave home without them again!

I fell in love with the swallows first, I can't hear them enough and the way they fly is so amazing. The ravens are so fun to watch on windy days. But seeing snow buntings for the first time felt like my initiation. Next I "bagged" the white-crowned sparrow. The red-necked phalarope was a very interesting addition, the female has the fancy colors. The flock of snow buntings I attracted with bird seed this year was so delightful to watch. Last week I got to see a fierce swallow battle. I think I got a tundra swan yesterday. Sweet!

I know some birds on sight, and can recognize different flight patterns. I am beginning to distinguish bird calls. I start looking up for the raven whenever I hear croaking. But I really must get out and identify that yellow bird.

Sea of Faces

2008-12-24T15:53:00.000-08:00

Warren, after trying MySpace and rejecting it for it's ad content, finally tried out Facebook the night before last. He loved it so much, that I joined up too. So we have been very busy since then exploring all the options and finding friends and family. I am very pleased, but the house is a mess so I better go.

See you on Facebook,
Verity

Snow, Beautiful Snow

2008-11-25T17:21:00.000-08:00

When the sun finally came up this morning we could see a lot of new snow. I guessed that it was at least three inches. Sure enough, when measured it with my longest finger later, it came out to over three inches. What fun, now we can go sled. If only we had skis.

Playing out,
Verity

Sara's 1st Logic Problem

2008-11-23T19:43:00.000-08:00

In their logic books the girls have recently been introduced to logic (grid) problems. Here is Sara's original - no parental input at all! I am having her type it as well-- I will have her do her own editing.

There were three friends, they each need coats. So they went to the store to get coats. They each got two coats. Each friend had two colors;red and orange blue and green and pink and yellow
The three girls were named:Lolly Becky and Betsy. There was two ten- year-olds,and a six-year-old.Find out who got red and orange, pink and yellow, and blue and green, and how old they were.

Clues:

Becky didn't get blue and green.
The six-year-old wasn't named Becky.
Lolly didn't get blue and green.
Betsy wasn't Lolly's twin.
Lolly wasn't ten.
Becky got red and orange.

Have a logically good time,
Verity and Sara

Heaven on earth?

2008-11-16T18:56:00.000-08:00

Lately I have been coming across a collection of ideas about life that are appealing to me.
Voluntary Simplicity. No Buy Month. Buy locally produced goods. Alternative energy. Unschooling. Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Slow Food. Organic Farming.

We are as close as we can be to these ideas. I have been an avid fan of my Complete Tightwad Gazette for years. We are increasingly reticent to spend on ourselves and are putting off buying even little things we don't really have to have, so we may have No Buy months frequently, but it's hard to be sure. Buying local is something I would like to try, but it isn't available here except for native clothing or decorative items. Warren is currently in the process of installing mini-windmills on our roof. True unschooling allowed too much control by the child for us, but school is a lot more relaxed this year. We have significantly reduced our processed foods since moving here, so now we only buy a dozen or less multi-ingredient product, half of them condiments and spreads. Instead we are using more rice and legume based meals centering around this week's box of organic produce from our CSA.

But the underlying philosophy of the people advocating these wonderful sounding ideas was something that kept bothering me. New Age shows up frequently and their ideas about government are much different than mine. I went for a walk to clear my head and as I was out and reciting Psalm 84 to myself (I am trying to memorize it) I realized what was bothering me.

These philosophies are focused on personal pleasure and creating a perfect world. That will never happen-- we will never get heaven on earth until Jesus returns. Taking a winter walk in the
Arctic while knowing another person has just died and you will attend another funeral within the week was ample evidence of that to me. The news is replete with more evidence. So we choose not to focus on creating a self-sustaining life for ourselves. It would be so easy to go and find a place where our family could take care of ourselves. But we choose not to. We are trying to give away more to others who are starving either temporally or spiritually. We are more interested in caring for others than for ourselves. Psalms 37:24 says "Yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken or his seed begging for bread." After all, "Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?" Matthew 6:25

Awaiting Heaven,
Verity

A new view of school

2008-11-13T17:53:00.000-08:00

I have seriously considered unschooling or delight-directed learning, which taken to it's ultimate conclusion, lets children decide whatever they want to learn. I still agree that the teacher can not decide what a student will learn or when or how, and that learning does happens best when the student is excited and finds it relevant. However I found it difficult to drop "school" altogether, so now I am doing the three R's and Inupiaq. I have a storytime every day that works for our science/social studies/history. Warren also reads some more stories after evening worship. Since our return from Washington, after encouragement from an old friend, added to my own thoughts I found time in our schedule for music and exercise again. The girls seem really ready this time.

Isn't learning fun,
Verity

On the Move

2008-04-06T22:01:00.000-07:00

In the last year I have begun to have some new inner urges. I have never been the athletic type, but now I really long to be moving. I am starting to hate sitting still most of my day. I want to move, it 's wonderful feeling to exercise. Sara loves to be active and outside. Abby, born in Alaska though she is, can be a real drag on a family walk if you know what I mean. Miriam seems to have the spirit though. She is always ready to go outside. Yesterday she really showed her stuff when she walked nearly the whole length of the village (at least half a mile). Abby and I just let her lead us, curious how far she would go. Then Abby was begging Miriam to go home but she still wanted to continue her walk. Happily for Abby we were offered a ride home.

Gotta run,
Verity

Wishing you were here...

2008-03-02T20:40:00.000-08:00

In Praise of Arms

2008-02-14T16:27:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day is the day that everyone's thoughts turn to love, especially romantic love. But today, one Selawik elder, May is grieving the loss of her husband. In fact, they just brought home his body this morning. Though he had been ill for sometime and was ready to rest, she misses him terribly. When I visited my friend Pauline and mentioned May, she affirmed May's feeling, saying it was like having your arm cut off. She shared how hard it was to lose her own husband.

As I listened, I knew that I can do more to appreciate all that Warren is. May and Pauline have given me a start in that direction. I want to bless my family by my presence in their lives. They are not here to please me, my life was given to me to enrich others. God gave me Warren and my life is so much richer because of him.

Before we married, I committed to myself that I would never say anything negative about Warren to anyone and that I would never use that terrible d-word.These have helped a lot. But it is hard to keep up the passion here without a babysitter, especially in the winter. I plan to be more committed to taking evening walks together. I have been convicted that I have focused too much of myself on our girls. God has gradually been gaining his proper first place in my priorities. But Warren deserves more than he has received from me.

Marriage is so precious; it is the deepest human love we can know. If you are married, I entreat you to do whatever it takes to make your marriage strong in Jesus. If you are not married, be sure all your relationships are guided with prayer.

In love,

Verity

On a Journey with Jesus

2008-01-31T16:17:00.000-08:00

Lately I have been feeling discouraged because my life is not in line with what I want to be. But today I was encouraged reading Steps to Christ - a great manual on what it means to journey with Jesus. Being sorry when your life is out of line with Jesus means you are still on the right track. It means he is still working with you. Don't give up. Becoming more a person of love and balance is a passion with me. I don't want to stay the person that I am.

I haven't always understood what is means to be a Christian. I used to be a very frustrated wife and mother who spend my days mostly alternating between wasting time and sleeping late. I am gradually overcoming thirty years of a undisciplined life so I shouldn't be surprised that I still fall short in this area. But I like being on a schedule now, life is definitely improving.

My life began to change after my first miscarriage and Sara's cataract discovery. I had to decide how I really felt about God. I decided that I would stay with God, I didn't want to miss the chance to be reunited the baby I lost. Yet I still did not know how to be a true Christian. I had committed myself to God, but I still had not changed direction.

The next step came when my dad gave me the book Empowered Living by Jim Hohnberger. This book started to open my eyes to how I could become the mother and wife that I wanted to be. The process was continued when I read Parenting by the Spirit written by Sally Hohnberger. Even if you are not married or a parent the principles I learned still apply to you. They also have other books and free online resources. Living as Jesus created us to really is having life more abundantly. How could we settle for anything less?
Here is the testimony of Michelle Brinkman who has a similar passion for the beautiful things of God. The reason I have chosen to get religious on my family blog is the same as hers. I want to see you all in heaven at end of the journey.

Joy,
Verity

To the Universal Recipe and Beyond: A Cook's Odyssey

2008-01-13T22:54:00.001-08:00

To be honest, when I began my voyage into cooking for myself, I did know how to cook without a recipe. But if I had a good recipe I followed it exactly. However, my repertoire of favorite recipes was rather small, and I did most of my cooking by memory, i.e. noodles, noodles and more noodles. I knew of a few universal recipes (they provide ingredient categories, suggestions, and proportions, you provide the ingredients) but I felt no need for a recipe in those categories. I already had recipes I liked thank you. I was stuck in orbit although I considered myself a good cook. However, as I have become more faithful in caring for my family, I inched toward an understanding of cooking as an art.

One day, my neighbor causally shared with me how a recipe I gave her could be changed in a variety of ways. This was a major revelation to me. The first time I remember changing a recipe was several years ago when I decided that the oatmeal cookie recipe I had was dry. I tried reducing the oats in the recipe and I was quite pleased with myself because I didn't need to find a better recipe anymore. Later, waiting at some doctor's office, I read an article on Rachael Ray, the “hip” food talk show. She was quoted saying cooking “is not rocket science” when asked about measuring for a recipe. I was getting ready to move out of orbit.

After moving to bush Alaska I have become a lot more money smart about my cooking. We filled our pantry with staples and few processed foods such as spaghetti sauce, crackers, and jam. We eat hot cereal every morning, make all our own bread, and spend very little time food shopping. Subscribing to Full Circle Farm in November, though, is when I really began to see how far I could go in my cooking. In order to have a the greatest variety of food, we decided to become familiar with all vegetables they have to offer. I compare a number of recipes at Allrecipes and other sources and choose what sounds best based on what we have that week. Now I base our meals on beans, rice, potatoes, and our weekly Full Circle Farms box.

The proof that I have discovered a new galaxy came when I compared cookie recipes to create my own universal recipe so I could save time on my Christmas baking. And the critics loved it. I know some of you may have been born in this galaxy, so please forgive my excitement at discovering it. For those of you who are still in orbit, perhaps I will meet you here soon.

Food Explorer,

Verity

BTW: If you are wanting a cooking tip, soak your beans in water that has been brought to a boil, then freeze to dramatically reduce their cooking time.

Our Little Lady

2008-01-07T21:52:00.000-08:00

The First Shall Be Last
....to wake up that is.

The World's Smallest Balloon
(or is it just a little hot air?)

Miriam in Hats

Of Mice and Miriam

Fancy paper photoframes?

2007-12-24T14:37:00.000-08:00

When I find time to scrapbook, I always focus on the memories. Journaling and pictures are the center of my pages. They are the decorations. I also like to save money. I will not buy paper that costs more than 50 cents a sheet and the cheaper it is the better I like it. I never add stickers or other doodads, but my pages are attractive and interesting. At least I think so :-)

When I first discovered scrapbooking I quickly decided that I would not do 12x12 or other special sized pages. Having to buy special scrapbooking materials is far too expensive. (However 12x12 papers can be a bargain if you cut them and use them behind photos and journaling). Instead I buy standard office page protectors for 81/2 x 11 pages and put them in standard 3-ring binders. These can be personalized as well which is great. This way is so flexible, I like being able to always move the pages as I add more.

However, recently I have been looking at my options again with the gift of a 12x12 scrapbook and finding free software that will let my scrapbook digitally on Linux. It was very entertaining to me to see how other people scrapbook. Do they never think about how expensive their method is? All those costly papers, vellum, stickers, eyelets, and lettering. Their pages can easily cost five dollars each. Often there is little or no journaling and only one photo on the page. Are they just making paper photo frames? Is scrapbooking about memories or art?

As a Christian, I see a spiritual issue as well. In the Bible, God frequently condemns those who spend all their time and energy on themselves while widows and orphans suffer. His greatest concern has always been for the poor and helpless since before the Flood and looking forward to our day. Yes, scrapbooking is fun, but I could congratulate myself for spending less on this hobby than others. However, I know that time is also an issue. I have three girls, two of which are in homeschool. I have a village outside my door that needs to experience the joy and power of God in their lives. As much I want to be more organized to have more time to scrapbook and write, I must be sure to not neglect my more important missions.

Verity