Thoughts about sustainability and Transylvania.

Over this past weekend my father and stepmother visited, and beyond just having a good time with them, and spending a lot of time with the Critter we had some interesting conversations. One of them was how much easier it is to do what we're trying to do here in Romania, specifically in Transylvania. My step mother is from Transylvania, and she and my father live there over the summers, and it is fascinating to hear about the differences in how life works there. I suspect she isn't wrong, that it would be easier to be a small farmer there than it is here, especially given how the villages are organized.

There is an interesting video online about how different the area is, and how important the sustainability that it still maintains as a holistic system is. The specific part of this video that I think folks would enjoy listening to is Prince Charles speaking to the interviewer starting at 7:45 in this video.

I think that Prince Charles's point is very well put, and I agree that we really do need to learn that Agri-Industry isn't the only answer. Sorry for the short post, but I think that Prince Charles said what I'm thinking about this.

Of course, maintaining that lifestyle gets harder and harder every day, though it is increasingly important that it is more focused on.

I'd love discussion if folks have thoughts on this.

Critter has been born

As many of you know, and the rest of you probably guessed, the Critter has come into the world. As of now I don't have any great pictures to share so those'll have to wait for Tuesday when a real post comes.

I'd say he came into the world in the usual way, but I don't think 27 hours of back labor without pain medication counts as the usual way. He's 8lbs 9oz, and 19.5" long, or was as of Monday night just before 9 when he was born. We're going to be coming home from the Hospital today, and are looking forward to having Critter at home.


Right now I'm very happy that he's here, and the Lady of the House is amazing to have gotten through all of that the way she did. There's something very interesting to me about the lifestyle we've chosen in homesteading that the day before she went into labor I was splitting and stacking wood with a group of great friends, and the day she went into Labor just as she was beginning labor my hands were covered in blood showing someone how to kill and butcher rabbits. Just over 24 hours later, I was holding my son. At some point when I've had more time to think about how to talk about it here, and the life and death cycle that is implicit in homesteading, but can be really made apparent in moments like this.

I'd like to give special thanks to our friend Annalise for taking care of the animals for us while we were out delivering the Critter. She was kind enough to not only get pictures, but a video of one of Dawn's kits learning how to be a bunny. You can watch it below if I uploaded it properly. If not, I probably won't know for a few days, but I'll try to fix it ASAP. Credit for the photos and the video to Annalise.