Jam day follows picking day. With Badger's help, I put up thirteen jars of jam first thing this morning. This evening, ten more. Our jam stores are full for another year.
In between the two batches, Ex, Badger, Junebug and I headed into NYC for a show. Walking up and down the streets of the east village, I realized two things. The first was that I miss The City terribly. I love our land, but NYC feels like home in a way few places have. The second thing was that I was obviously being read as a gay man, by other gay men, from a distance. It felt like triumph, in a way. But it also made my heart ache. I hate this sometimes. Anyone who thinks that being trans is a choice should try walking through the village in my shoes. Because being read as closer to what I am, while wonderful, also serves as a reminder that I will never be what I am. All the hormone therapy and surgery in the world won't fix that. I will be seen as a fem/androgynous gay boy right up to the point that I am outed as trans, and no further. I will never be accepted as what I am by cis people, or as a gay man by other gay men. So where is there a place in the world for me?
Saturday, July 19, 2014
Friday, July 18, 2014
18.7.14
Another day in homesteading paradise. Today I took the kids out to a u-pick farm to bring in our supply of blueberries for the year. Badger picked some, but ate a lot more. Junebug did some real picking, but also a lot of eating and dumping. We ended up with a large box of berries that will magically become jam tomorrow morning.
Day 3
Breakfast: two eggs poached in bone broth.
Lunch: way too many berries.
Dinner: sauteed zucchini, garlic scapes, and chicken in lard, plus the last bite of homemade cheese.
Snack: sweet potato with coconut aminos.
Mutu exercises done, pushups done.
Day 3
Breakfast: two eggs poached in bone broth.
Lunch: way too many berries.
Dinner: sauteed zucchini, garlic scapes, and chicken in lard, plus the last bite of homemade cheese.
Snack: sweet potato with coconut aminos.
Mutu exercises done, pushups done.
Thursday, July 17, 2014
17.7.14
Day 2. My pants felt a bit loose today, but it can't possibly be the diet yet. Wishful thinking.
Breakfast: two eggs poached in bone broth.
Lunch: cucumber with salt and pepper, banana, fizzy water.
Snack: homemade farm cheese.
Dinner: a large piece of salmon, sauteed chard, zucchini, and garlic scapes, cooked in lard.
I was a little light on vegetables today, because I was on the road all day. I had my three month appointment today, where my hormone prescription was increased to almost twice my dose. I'm looking forward to my changes happening more rapidly.
Breakfast: two eggs poached in bone broth.
Lunch: cucumber with salt and pepper, banana, fizzy water.
Snack: homemade farm cheese.
Dinner: a large piece of salmon, sauteed chard, zucchini, and garlic scapes, cooked in lard.
I was a little light on vegetables today, because I was on the road all day. I had my three month appointment today, where my hormone prescription was increased to almost twice my dose. I'm looking forward to my changes happening more rapidly.
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
16.7.14
Yesterday was my birthday. I am officially in my mid-thirties. As a birthday gift to myself, I am buckling down and working on my health for the next month. I have been 80/20 paleo for a long time, but lately I have been slipping, and my health has suffered a bit as a result. Looking in the mirror the other day, I noticed how much the shape of my arms has changed as a result of the testosterone. But the rest of me - not so much. I'm at an age that no longer allows a poor diet or sedentary lifestyle. Time to get moving.
My diet isn't terrible. I eat healthy fats, meat, eggs, and dairy, all from pastured animals. There are far more vegetables in my diet than the average American eats. But I still consume far more sourdough bread than I should, and I've been known to have a pizza and beer night now and then. So for the next month, I'll be detoxing with the Whole30 plan. It's a more-paleo-than-paleo, 100% clean eating diet, for 30 days. I'll be modifying it in just one way - by adding pastured raw dairy, which I tolerate just fine. I have a bit of weight to lose, and I'm hoping Whole30 will help with that. It should also improve my health in general.
In addition to losing a few pounds, I need to work on building muscle and improving my endurance. To that end, I'll be starting the Mutu System, doing some extra push-ups and dips, and walking at least a half hour a day. I'd like to run again, but I'll have to wait and see how my ankles and knees tolerate the walking first.
So, let's call this day one. I'll be using this blog for accountability.
Breakfast: two cups greens beans, one cup chicken, sauteed in lard. Black coffee.
Lunch: large salad with crumbled raw milk cheese, evoo, and balsamic vinegar. A few swigs of unflavored full fat kefir.
Dinner: stir-fry of golden beets, garlic scapes, beet greens, and sausage.
I've done some push-ups, gone for my daily walk, and am about to do my nightly Mutu.
So far so good.
My diet isn't terrible. I eat healthy fats, meat, eggs, and dairy, all from pastured animals. There are far more vegetables in my diet than the average American eats. But I still consume far more sourdough bread than I should, and I've been known to have a pizza and beer night now and then. So for the next month, I'll be detoxing with the Whole30 plan. It's a more-paleo-than-paleo, 100% clean eating diet, for 30 days. I'll be modifying it in just one way - by adding pastured raw dairy, which I tolerate just fine. I have a bit of weight to lose, and I'm hoping Whole30 will help with that. It should also improve my health in general.
In addition to losing a few pounds, I need to work on building muscle and improving my endurance. To that end, I'll be starting the Mutu System, doing some extra push-ups and dips, and walking at least a half hour a day. I'd like to run again, but I'll have to wait and see how my ankles and knees tolerate the walking first.
So, let's call this day one. I'll be using this blog for accountability.
Breakfast: two cups greens beans, one cup chicken, sauteed in lard. Black coffee.
Lunch: large salad with crumbled raw milk cheese, evoo, and balsamic vinegar. A few swigs of unflavored full fat kefir.
Dinner: stir-fry of golden beets, garlic scapes, beet greens, and sausage.
I've done some push-ups, gone for my daily walk, and am about to do my nightly Mutu.
So far so good.
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
8.7.14
The season of action is upon us. My day starts early, with coffee, sauteed greens, and fresh eggs for breakfast. The dog is walked, the chickens let out to roam, Junebug changed and dressed, and my chores prioritized. We've pledged, now that we're able, to eat 90% local. So every day during this season, canning is on the list of daily work. So far this year we have put up the following: 5 pints pickled asparagus, 8 quarts chicken stock (from pastured chickens purchased from a farm down the road), 6 pints zucchini relish, 5 pints strawberry rhubarb pie filling, and 14 half pints strawberry rhubarb jam. We also have a quart of lacto-fermented wild leek bulbs in the fridge. The leeks, which we harvested in our own forest, should last us most of the summer if we eat them sparingly.
So, after breakfast, work continues. Clothes need to be washed by hand in a laundry tub and hung out to dry. Dishes need washing. Meals have to be made. The house needs cleaning, as does the chicken coop. Our Silver Grey Dorking chicks, still in their brooder, have to be fed, watered, and cleaned up after. A hundred other small tasks must be done. In between, Junebug keeps me endlessly busy.
After a dinner of baked chicken and vegetables, we took a walk together to the end of the road, to give the dog some exercise and drop off the recycling. Along the way I harvested a heaping quart of daylily buds, which will be on the menu tomorrow. We took note of the ripening wide raspberry patch, and picked a bouquet of black-eyed susans to brighten the kitchen.
The light is fading as I type. In the distance, the frogs are starting their songs while the many birds finish theirs. Junebug is happily playing in a puddle of rainwater, and in the distance I can hear Mutt on the tractor, clearing away some fallen trees. A day like this can make you forget about all the trials this life can cause, and remember only its simple pleasures.
So, after breakfast, work continues. Clothes need to be washed by hand in a laundry tub and hung out to dry. Dishes need washing. Meals have to be made. The house needs cleaning, as does the chicken coop. Our Silver Grey Dorking chicks, still in their brooder, have to be fed, watered, and cleaned up after. A hundred other small tasks must be done. In between, Junebug keeps me endlessly busy.
After a dinner of baked chicken and vegetables, we took a walk together to the end of the road, to give the dog some exercise and drop off the recycling. Along the way I harvested a heaping quart of daylily buds, which will be on the menu tomorrow. We took note of the ripening wide raspberry patch, and picked a bouquet of black-eyed susans to brighten the kitchen.
The light is fading as I type. In the distance, the frogs are starting their songs while the many birds finish theirs. Junebug is happily playing in a puddle of rainwater, and in the distance I can hear Mutt on the tractor, clearing away some fallen trees. A day like this can make you forget about all the trials this life can cause, and remember only its simple pleasures.
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