Time is running away from me.

ETSY!ROOKIE!YAHTZEE!

Hello all,

I have an actual blog post in the works, but for now..just a couple of things.

Numero Uno:

I have started an Etsy shop for my drawings and paintings. Take a look, if you please:

ALL EYES & EARS

I'm adding new ones all the time :)

Numero Dos:

I spoke with Jessica Hopper of ROOKIE mag the other night via Skype! You can read the interview..

HERE.

That's all for now! Much love

E

Life lately around the homestead

Well we were a little worried about this drought that's had it's death grip on Austin for the past couple of years...we get all of our water from the rain! Since we've been here, though, we've had 2 really good rains, including a massive storm the other night that completely filled up our tanks ( hooray! ) We're still saving all the water we can, and taking military showers, though :) It's been fun learning about different ways to conserve water. It's easy to forget that these things need paying attention to..especially in a city where the water is "unlimited."

Dan checking the water level after our big rain.

I enjoy the colors of the dead ( and alive ) Juniper leaves/berries

I figured out that I can take panoramic photos on my phone! Here are a few from around the outside of the house:

The chicken coop and path up to the house

The front of the house

The chickies were looking a little cramped in the bathtub, so we thought it was time to move them into the bigger coop and build them a brooder there. The outlet was busted, so handy Dan fixed it. Now we can plug in their heat lamp!

The girls in their new brooder

Breakfast of champions :)

Once the chicks get a little bigger, I'm planning on setting up some hives for my next adventure: Beekeeping. Any book recommendations would be appreciated!

Til' next time,

E

New Texans

Hello from Texas! It's only been a little over a week since we arrived here, and it's already been quite an adventure. We don't have the internet yet, so this will just be a quick update ( I'm sitting in a whole foods suspiciously using theirs ). 

When we started to explore the property, we discovered that our next door neighbors specialize in raising rare and exotic birds..as well as other animals. They also rescue wounded birds, I think. About twice a day, we hear a wild cacophony ( feeding time? ). It seriously sounds like we're living in a jungle!  Our favorite next door neighbors, though, are the miniature donkeys, who run up to greet us the second they spy us through the trees. 

Some shots of the house:

Dan on the back porch

Our view from the back porch

Horseshoes is more difficult than I thought!

Our laundry line all set up

To the right is our laundry silo..and our sweet outdoor hangout spot

Tomorrow we will pick up our baby chicks to start our chicken raising endeavor! Hopefully they will help catch the spiders and scorpions ;) There is already a coop set up for our chickens, which is very helpful indeed. 

Part of the coop..with plenty of trees with low branches for the birds to perch on.

Clever predator deterrent. 

We have learned that dealing with the scorpions are a way of life out here..but the first time we saw one, we were pretty freaked out! It launched a full-fledged I-phone investigation, and we learned some interesting facts:

1.Scorpions glow under a black light ( no one really knows why..)

2.Scorpions are most active during the full moon

3. Scorpions can hold their breath for up to 3 weeks ( this applies to underwater, and most pesticides)

4. You can freeze a scorpion, but it will re-animate upon being brought into non-freezing temperatures.

5. Scorpions can climb walls and ceilings.

6. You can squash a scorpion, but you may then release the babies it has on its back.

I can't remember the rest off the top of my head, but suffice it to say they are amazing creatures. We have heard from the locals that the ones we are dealing with don't have a super painful sting...maybe we will find out. 

This week we got a cute little scorpion hunter, though!

Daisy

Before I go, some more shots of the house:

Music corner

Starting to look like a studio!

A reaaaaalll kitchen

Oh, and this guy found his way to our house this morning..we went around to the neighbors, and no one knows whose dog it is. For now, he is hanging out in our yard, I guess..

We named him "Rocky" for some reason.

Sunset from the back porch

Alright, that's all I have time for now. Come down and visit!

x

E

Day 16 in Iceland

Well, we have arrived home safely..Brennivin and Birkir from the duty-free shop in tow. I wasn't able to blog last night because we didn't have internet (we were having too much fun anyway.) I am pretty much a zombie right now, though, so lower your expectations. Get em' down there.

coffee at Chris's.

YogaDan

I liked his stairwell

We ventured out to get some groceries for dinner and to walk around Reykjavik a little bit.

taking pictures in the security camera waiting for "Bonus" to open.

We returned back from our walk, and Chris had gotten back from school. It had started raining, so we sat around drawing and writing and watching "Gummo"  for a little while.

Our amazing host.

The sun came back out, so we thought we'd go for another walk. We checked out the big church nearby which looked cooler from the outside..but it had a nice big organ inside.

This cat let me scratch his butt. 

After the church, I decided that Dan needed to try an Icelandic specialty: fermented rotten shark. I can't remember the name of it now..but Chris knew a fish market that sells it, so that's where we went!

He only bought one piece.. I am not as brave and refused to try it. It smelled like ammonia :(

He said it wasn't so bad, though.

"Polar Beers" to get the taste of rotten shark out of Dan's mouth.

Back at home we made a nice dinner and talked about traveling. Chris told us about his adventures in squat houses, and showed us beautiful photographs of Slovenia and other places. 

We hit the streets again to go see some music. First, we had our own little jam session.

This girl was amazing. 

another cat!

That's it! I have a lot more to say, but my need for sleep is overriding everything else right now. Lets talk in person.

Love,

E