Fall Schedule WOO HOO!!!

I am wicked pumped, just had my first official meeting with my wonderful advisor, Ned Houston, and we built my very first semester here at Sterling.

I love that I get to literally pick and choose the classes that I want to take, and have a supportive advisor who will be with me every step of the self-designing way!

(parenthesis refer to classes that are yet to be determined as to which days and times I will be taking them based on class sizes and schedules. I don't envy the registrar for having to coordinate some 130+ student schedules each semester)

Mondays:
8:30-11:45am--Fiber Arts
     The use of animal and plant fibers, both wild and cultivated, has ancient and world-wide roots. Products carefully and lovingly made from the fiber resources at hand have served people well for millennia
1:00-4:15pm--Agricultural Techniques
     Explores specific topics in animal and crop husbandry. Selected skills will be taught along with the theoretical background needed to apply those skills appropriately. Each semester focuses on those skills most appropriate to that time of year. Fall semester may include cider pressing, handling livestock and understanding animal behavior, poultry, garden season extension, composting, winter vegetable storage, and food preservation.

Tuesdays:
10:15-11:45am--Environmental Science
     Applies principles of ecology toenvironmental problems of air, water, and biota. Focuses on quantitative measurements of human impacts and converting those understandings to personal change. Reviews scientific methods and fundamentals of chemistry and physics. Writing assignments refine the use of lab report and scientific paper formats. Culminates with an independent project assessing local impact and proposing solutions.
1:00-4:15pm--(Tools or Experiential Education I/Bounder)
     Tools - Teaches safe, efficient use and maintenance of toolsimportant to outdoor natural resource work, primarily: axe, crosscut saw, and chainsaw. Weekly applications cover skills needed for timber harvesting, firewood processing, trail construction and maintenance, and outdoor building projects and form the foundation for skills developed further in other classes. Woodlot and trail-work skills are applied to the management of Sterling's land, and the management goals are discussed. Teamwork, personal responsibility, and personal confidence building are also goals of the class. Students are required to provide their own axe and personal protective gear.
     Bounder - Focuses on how people work in groups when facing challenges and unfamiliar situations. Building self-confidence and trusting teammates are core elements of personal development fostered by this course. Students are introduced to group problem solving, communication skills, and leadership roles through active participation in classes followed by discussion of the consequences of their actions. Scheduled classes include group initiatives, flatwater canoeing, navigation with map and compass, and basic winter camping techniques in preparation for a four-day winter backpacking expedition. This experiential learning is augmented by assigned readings and a weekly reflective journal. A significant amount of personal equipment is required for these activities. 

Wednesdays:
(8:30-11:45am--Tools)

Thursdays:
8:30-10:00am--Fiber Arts
(1:00-4:15pm--Bounder)

Fridays:
8:30-11:45am--Environmental Science
1:00-4:15--Exploring Alternative Agriculture
     An introduction to alternative farming through the classics of sustainable agricultural literature and through visits to local farming operations. Approaches surveyed will include organic, biodynamic, homesteading, natural farming, perennial polyculture, permaculture, and holistic management. Field trips take students to contrasting local farm operations, from corporate operations to homesteads and from family farms to land trusts.

A very brief photo tour of the travels et al

Left right on time September 1st

Bettey - Fully-Loaded

Yes, this is actually how we drove across the country

We hit Chicago at sunset Sunday evening after spending
the weekend in Wisconsin with family and friends.
We're both big fans of the symmetry of the Chi-Skyline

Gorgeous

Indiana (obviously) just after dark, Sunday night

Cleveland, Ohio at God-only-knows when (Steve and I had
planned to drive through the Niagara Falls, NY from WI; a 12
hour drive that we just couldn't do. Wound up napping some-
where half way through the state of OH)

Follow the "Falling Water" signs

Honestly, not as mind-blowing as we both expected--keep in
mind though that we'd been driving for....EVER.

Not bad for 8am, or something like that! It was fun, worth
the stop

I love bridges, even though some make me nervous. These
did not and I think they're just beautiful; passing from Grand Island
back over the NY state proper

Just outside of Burlington, VT

Headed to Craftsbury, somewhere between Stowe and our
final destination! Oh, this is Tuesday (finally).

The sunset over the river outside of Claire's
(yes, of course I took Steve there for our last
dinner together for a moment)!

This is what happens when you're so wicked tired, after travelling
across the country, getting up at 6:30 for class and decide, after
wearing your slop boots all morning, it's nice enough for flippies
but conveniently forgetting you have Botony I (and your teacher
decides to introduce you to the Cedar Swamp right away, after
3 days of rain). Awesome. Getting into the nature of it all
 head (or feet) first!

It took every spare moment of free time I could find in my
first 3 days here but I finally got my room (and my life) in
order! Yay! I actually, super love it!

Love, love, lovin' it!

I love it here.

I love that I get to walk barefoot through soft, supple, green grass from class to class; that I can walk by any one of the numerous apple trees throughout campus, pluck a sweet, juicy, crunchy fruit for a snack at any time.

I love that while laying out on the green, I am quietly--inadvertently--serenaded by the broken wind-blown tinkerings of the tinny, hollow box sounds of the guitar being plucked on by the boy in the room at the end of the hall.

I love that I get to lie in the grass under the warm late-summer sun while doing my homework (which doesn't feel like homework at all, more like reading the love letters between man and earth).

I love the sounds of nature blowing through the breezes--the chirping of the insects in the grasses and fields surrounding me; the tweeting broken harmonious songs of the birds as they flutter by, playing and swooping and riding the winds; the sound of the distant neighbor's lawn mower breaking through intermittently; the pigs in the stall snorting and grunting when the breeze blows just right.

I love that this is school but feels nothing like it--nothing like the suffocating fluorescent lighting in lecture halls; nothing like the pressing weight of the papers, terms, and tests piling up; nothing like the loss of self wandering through vacant packed hallways.

I love that this is my school.

http://voice.sterlingcollege.edu/post/9955866140/meet-sterlings-newest-students

So here's a super quickie update of the past week

Guess what?! THE CHAIRS ARE FINISHED! And they are just so gorgeous! I just love them, now if only I didn't have a literal mountain of moving stuff in the dining room, maybe Steve and I could actually use them (notice this photo is taken at the front door, pretty much the only space available in the front of the house right now).

See what I mean? I spent last night packing all my sweaters and long-undies and layers (and reorganizing this massive pile, it was driving me nuts taking over the living space as it is). You wouldn't think I hate the cold as much as I say I do considering the surprising amount of layering pieces I have!

Do you think it'll all fit in the truck? I'll definitely keep you posted on that one!

Last Tuesday, these highly-anticipated-sexy-beasts arrived in the mail!

Yeah, that's right I chose fashion AND function!
It's okay ladies, you can be jealous (oh, and I also paid only 50% retail price for them)!

I know, wicked cute.

And yesterday, this came for me!

Sickest. Jacket. Ever.

Grass green, 600 fill 100% goose down North Face snowboarding jacket. Usable pockets abound, adjustable snow skirt with belt loop straps to ensure it doesn't move, and helmet compatible (and attachable) goose hood. 

So. Warm. 

And I only paid 50% retail, again. I know, I'm just so good.

Vermont winter, here I come! 

(I am so in love with my cute but wholly functional snow gear, I was tempted in Denver's 90-million-degree day to gear up, head to toe, farmer-john snow pants and all just to get a picture. Steve advised--wisely--against doing so. Besides, I'll have plenty of pictures when I'm actually trekking through the Vermont back-country on expedition!)

Love!

You'll never believe what I did yesterday!

 I can hardly believe it myself!

They have WIIIIIIIINGS!!!
And tiny little stubby tails!

I am re-in-love with these little birdies (I lost one yesterday while working/rehydrating him; what? It's only been about 3 months....)

Love!

Again, I have no words, just jumps! (Monday, August 8)

So, after spending a wonderful day back at "work" playing with Bunny, I came home to two of the most anticipated events as far as school goes.

One-- my new computer has arrived and it just BEAUTIFUL! This is the best, most wonderful, and thoughtful gift from Steve for my school adventures across the country! I couldn't have asked or found a better computer without that gorgeous man!

Two-- I got my residency letter from Sterling...

Drum roll please!

I have been placed in HOUSTON HOUSE as a SINGLE!!!! Are you kidding me!? How amazing is THAT?!

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU LORD!!!!

This one's for Leah

Organic green and white salad for lunch = pure Yum!

(hint: eating arugula the day before it goes completely bad makes for some spicy but delicious flavor)

Steve and I just got back from our little Denver farmer's market (something we aim to do together every Sunday morning) and got a bag full of amazing loot!

 For dinner tonight, it's 4-cheese tortellini with tomato basil pasta sauce (all store bought unfortunately. I haven't yet tried to make my own tomato sauces but I have a feeling, they're not too difficult and I would rock them; and with the gorgeousness of the market's offerings, I would be able to make some delectable renditions with a basic knowledge) with a plethora of market veggies: yellow and green zucchini, an eight-ball squash (I love the name of those little yummy guys), red, orange, and green bells, an Anaheim, and another yellow-green pepper of some sort (it just looked and smelled so delicious, I had to have it), snap peas, and because my lover needs (craves) his protein always, I threw in some sun-dried tomato and basil Tofurky dogs chopped up.

We also got a little tub of yogurt dip in the roasted red pepper spice flavor that I'll be sure to mix into the batch.
Top it with a little parlano cheese and I think we're set for guaranteed food babies!

Love!

An Hour and a Half Later....

And we have ONE fully completed.
It was 100% Steve and Amanda team work!

I just love it!

Love!

Projects patiently awaiting completion... Goal=8/13/11

About 4 years ago, Steve and I "purchased" these chairs from a neighborhood yard sale (I say "purchased" because it was really more of a neighborhood junk-swap, nobody actually sold anything and we all wound up less our own junk but with someone else's disposed of treasures).

My wonderful mom decided she was going to strip them of their tortured red paint slop and refinish them.

With flash to enhance their beautiful detail
we're talking wire toothbrush and tons of
steel wool necessary to get the thick sloppy
layers of knarly paint off of them.
I cannot stress enough how much work and
how appreciated it is on my Mom's part, she
is a treasure!

Unfortunately I don't have any before photos but here they are in their current gorgeous glory:

Steve and I will hopefully have the seats competed by the end of today (what you see now is merely the base layer of fabric that I did on Friday and wound up full on bruising my hand with the staple gun--hey, at least it has enough guts to punch through the ancient hardened wood)

And these sweet little guys have been sitting in the ceramics studio since late May. I know--that's crazy.

I have recently (with the suggestion of Steve--seriously, what would I do without that wonderful man in my life!?) decided to change the original handle plans to simplify (read: get it over with already!) so that I can have them completed by the end of the summer/by the time I leave Colorado.

Love!

Sterling visit Day 4 (Wednesday June 8)

Today I woke up at 5:30am to join the 6:15am Grazing Lab class. Let me just tell you, this was super amazing. I thought at first it was going to be moving the animals from one lot to another (grazing rotations) but it wasn't. Not any less fun or interesting though!

We hiked through several pastures on the property identifying, noting, and discussing different types of native plant species. Today the students were focusing on the toxicity levels for grazing animals of native weed plants. It was just fascinating watching the instructor tromping through this tall grass and sporadically stoop down, pull a weed out and ask the class what it was. She used hints like, it's has a square stem, or it has a spiral growth pattern, or it's kind of sticky/fuzzy/prickly/etc. Honestly, to a layman like myself, we were just walking through a bunch of grass but to the trained and educated eye, a 2x2 patch of "grass" was chock-full of different plant species (by the handfuls sometimes)!

Did you know that certain grazing animals learn from their previous generations which plants are safe and which are not? Others learn through a very specific communication system in their bodies, an animals will know almost immediately by way of direct communication from their stomach (or stomachs) which plants are good for them, which they need more of, which plants are healthier than others, and which to avoid due to the different levels of toxicity. Did you know that there are over 30 different types of Thistle species alone?! And, even more interesting, the Canadian thistle (the one we're all used to seeing, super spiky with those deceptively gorgeous purple flowers at the top) has one of the highest nutritional values for grazing animals! For obvious reasons, they simply chose not to eat it and therefore, their stomach systems cannot tell the brain to continue seeking and eating it! Did you also know that grazers will follow a certain grazing order per their needs and plant-diets? Yes, it's totally real, one type of grazing animal will eat only certain plants and move on leaving plenty behind (yeah, I didn't even know that animals could eat from a patch of "grass" so specifically) for the next round and the next round of grazers. 

At Sterling for example, the kids and lambs along with the Llama are first in line for prime grazing, behind them the draft horses, and last of the grazers are the cows. The chickens are actually sent in after all the other animals to clean out the grubs and bugs from all the manure left behind because this process of feed/drop makes for the most fertile and rich compost needed for the specific lands up here! Isn't that just AMAZING!? I mean, who learns this kind of stuff in the first place (I'm talking our Grandpa's great-great-great-Grandpa TOTALLY knew what was up)!!!

So the class has decided to begin an experiment based on the 10+ year research studies of a local farmer who has proven not only do grazing animals learn from each other, learn from their own internal communication systems, but they can be taught to eat outside of their comfort zone/normal dietary selection in a mere 10 days! The class chose to begin training the kids, lambs, and the llama to start eating the Canadian thistle (it's abundant up there and very good for them, just a little uncomfortable). So they set themselves a schedule, each day they'll break up the thistle from tiny to gradually larger pieces and throw it in with a "treat." Within 10 days, the animals will know what it is that they're actually eating (eventually the treats will be taken out completely) and they'll actually begin seeking it out on their own in the pastures (have no fear, the woman's study showed that she's never once in her 10+ years of researching this subject seen an animal get internally injured from eating prickly plants)!

I was quietly chuckling to myself for much of the morning thinking, who gets this excited about GRASS and DUNG?! I DO!!! It's not unlike Steve's super excitement over light bulbs and insulation (he even said to me at one point, now I know what it's like to finally have found the one thing that's so seemingly mundane to the rest of the world but just grips you with fascination and feeds that insatiable hunger to keep learning)! I can't wait to be taking this class myself. The whole morning I was wishing I had brought my notebook and camera but I didn't want to interrupt the real classmates as they were learning (at sunrise) and because I thought that we'd be moving the animals, I didn't want to have to keep track of a bunch of little things that could be lost, trampled, or dirtied and ruined. But you bet your bottom dollar I went right home and added the class title to my little list of "Classes I definitely want to take."

After class was over, I went back home and enjoyed a lovely little breakfast with Phyllis. I just love this woman!

The rest of my morning was spent in Literature of the Rural Experience; another class I thoroughly enjoyed! They have been reading My Antonia which I remember reading ages ago in junior high or high school. I certainly don't remember having the same appreciation for the story as these students had which made me want to read it again now that I'm in a much more mature, confident part of life.

One thing I haven't really been mentioning about these classes, aside from wildly interesting and gripping course material, these class sizes are 3, 6, 8 (I think there were about 8 students max in the Farmstead Arts class which was the biggest class size I've seen yet). There are 3 students in this literature class and there were only about 6 or so in the morning's grazing class. I just can't get over the amazing connections being developed here. With a class size of 4, there's no way you'll be lost in the crowd because there isn't one. I truly believe that Sterling wants nothing more than ultimate success in all of their students and therefore, they've built this gorgeous method for which it becomes inevitable.

I spent the rest of the afternoon in the Sterling library (testing it for it's studious/motivational environment; it passed). I had plenty of homework for my online literature class back home that I've been putting off in my pure awe of everything Vermont/Sterling. Not wanting to waste the rest of my semester, I forced myself to sit down and just get it done (plus, Phyllis has been on me like any Grandma would be "to keep it up, stick with it")!

On my way there, I ran across the Driving Lab class (yet another one I cannot wait to get into)! I haven't taken a lot of pictures today but I made sure to grab some of the horses I am so inexplicably enthralled with!

Sterling visit Day 4 photos

Love!