My friend Scott Strain told me about an excellent book called “Better Off: Flipping the Switch on Technology.” It’s about a couple who lived with a Mennonite-type community for 18 months without electricity, and the wonderful experience they had. I haven’t yet read the book, but it’s gotten me back in ...

I'm wearing my modest dresses every day now. My energy is climbing again, and I'm spending most of my time sewing for our upcoming LOTR Hike. The girls are at school. The boys and I won't start homeschooling till after Labor Day. I looked at patterns for plain dresses, but they're not cheap, and I'd have to buy the fabric, ...

           I just finished reading a book called Plain and Simple, about a woman artist, having the same restless, searching feelings I struggle with, feel a jolt of recognition and bonding with Amish quilts, then Amish dolls. She ended up living with the Amish a couple of times. She ...

My daily journal stopped, because I went to a women's retreat for the weekend, then came back and spent a few days going through a stomach flu and recovering. So now I'm back out of the habit of housecleaning, but would like to start that up again. A friend gave me a loaf of Amish Friendship Bread, and the starter. So I've gotten rid ...

August 15, 2007: Today I finally baked three loaves of Three-Flour Bread, but again it was a little over-baked, and I had put in too much whole wheat flour, so they came out rather hard. They taste pretty good, though. I spent most of the day researching and taking notes on the Hopi annual ceremony cycles. Fascinating. My friend, Hilary, and I ...

August 14, 2007: I spent a little over an hour cleaning again this morning. It was great, but afterwards I felt wiped out (the mopping usually does this). I noticed, though, that since I've started noticing dirt more, I have less tolerance for it, so throughout the day I did small cleaning jobs here and there as well. I should have baked ...

August 12, 2007: Today we ate slices of sourdough toast, but it is so sour-tasting (all that long rising) that we can only stomach it with jelly on top. Some breads just are a flop. I ended up disposing of the loaves, after several attempts at eating it. August 13, 2007: Today I meant to make some better bread, but my energy was low and I just ...

August 9, 2007: Today I was a little tired from all of yesterday's activities, but not too much. I registered the girls with their schools in the morning and we had karate class. I spent the afternoon sewing with my friend, Kathryn. For supper we had tostadas with lettuce and onion from our garden. Julia likes garden onions--we've noticed ...

August 8, 2007: Today my energy has finally returned! I ran errands in the morning, after I attempted making applesauce for our breakfast pancakes. It tasted delicious, if a little tart, but I really do need a food mill, so the rest is keeping in the fridge until I can get one. There was something wonderful about eating my own applesauce from our ...

My favorite cousin, Dan, married a spark of a girl from Africa. Her name is Matinga, and she's a kindred spirit! Check out what she's doing now: http://africanmatinga.blogspot.com/ I want to go and help!