Hello and Good Day,This morning offered us thick fat fog up and down the valley- a rare occurence out here in the Nicola. It was a wonderful treat when the sunshine ripped through it all and burned it all off- providing us with glorious warmth up on our hike to the Quiet Spot.The snow is thick all over the place- the gardens completely buried under white blankets. When we headed out to Kelowna last week for some family visiting and food deliveries the whole place here was bare and seemingly springlike. Our drive home on Saturday offered many surprises after we dallied home like turtles, visiting thrift stores and natural food stores picking up this's and those. We should have been able to make it home in the daylight, but the roads seemed bare so what was the rush? Foolishness..... Leaving Merrit and onto the #8 highway, we found that that rain that was dropping started freezing up the windshield. Eventually we started hitting patches of extremely slippery ice, upon which we would just take the foot off the gas pedal and keep the steering wheel steady. We proceeded at a crawl, eventually too slow of a crawl, as on a slight incline the truck decided that it wouldn't go any farther. How slippery could it be out there? I thought this as I stepped out of the truck, slipping right onto my tail, and proceeded to slide down the hill away from the truck!Fortunately we always have a set of chains with us (which we've only unearthed once in the past three years!) and after much head scratching, untangling, and cursing loudly, we figured out how to attach them. Amazing how much traction- and what a racket- chains offer on a slippery drive home to the farm (three hours on a usual forty-five minute drive!). There's no place like home!Our little journey offered us plently of lovely visits, expanding our ever-growing learning of the alternatives of baby raising (baby isn't even here yet, and the ideas pouring out of our friends are fascinating.). We're hearing of the successes people are having with diaper free babies (which is much more hygenic, when you consider that a diaper is a place where babies can sit around in their own waste- let alone the environmental impact!) and teaching kids at home..... We never realized the alternatives that exist for 'home schooling'- many systems (including 'Life Learning') that aren't even curriculum based- instead are about teaching your children (and them teaching you) within where their interests lie. A child's curiosity will bring their interest about in so many areas- and their learning abilities will be greatly heightened when its them choosing the subjects.... I know that for myself, I always despised such subjects as Physical Education, Mathematics and Sciences after Grade 9, Music Lessons and many others. In most of these situations I unfortunately had poor relationships with many of these teachers. Nowadays I find myself immersed in many of these areas- I love to hike and garden and do moderate physical activity. We recently acquired my grandmother's beautiful Wurlitzer piano and I've found myself captivated and wanting to play more and more- it's such a treat to work out the notes to a song, plonk around and eventually have music emanating from this grand instrument (many songs I recognize- like a mystery unfolding). I never could have imagined that learning about the dynamics of pregnancy could be so fascinating- it's all about the material we're subjected to. The writings of Michel Odent have at points gotten me so worked up and ready for 'Revolution' that Brandie and Char have had to calm me down. I had to take breaks to cool down from that particular book 'The Farmer and the Obstetritan'. I realize that I learn much much better from a passionately written book than from somebody who teaches because its their job. Of course, I did have many fantastic teachers- many of my english teachers, creative writing and journalism teachers, and drama teachers- who quite likely saved me from utter depression!So now we're blessed with our last few weeks before the Birthday date (February ninth is the prediction). We don't have too many places to go, save some water samples in town and another midwife appointment in Kamloops at some point (and a last dentist trip for me)- though nowhere for more than a day! This gives us lots of time for organizing our place and planting a bit of this and that indoors (Brandie has been planting flats with peas, mixed greens, and some pots of dandelion roots.... Wow! The salads that are being offered us are way more exciting than the usual wintertime 'Sprout n' Kraut' salads.). We have lots of great reading to do (Ina May Gaskin's 'Spiritual MidWifery' is offering lots of baby delivery scenarios), birthing films to watch, board games to play, and squashes to cook (so many different shapes and colours that decorate our upstairs!). We're appreciating our last few weeks of quietude in our house, until our new little energy bundle graces our lives.The joys of farmlife....So I wanted to mention that Rebecca Wood has extended her special New Year's price on her dietary consultations until the end of this month. Her forty or so years of experience with nutritional research and writings offer her plenty of insight with digging deep into what ails you. Her 'Skype' based consultations allow her to study digestive health through reading the signs that are offered around and in the eyes and lips. Her dietary suggestions have always proved correct for me- I especially notice when I don't follow them and wind up feeling off balance and experiencing digestive distress! Check out here wonderful website at www.rwood.com for information about her consultations, plenty of fantastic recipes, and an extremely varied and diverse selection of excellent articles ranging from 'healthy and unsafe cookware', the incredible healing properties of apricot kernels, to ways of improving macular degeneration through diet (like making sure that every day we consume some orange or yellow coloured veggies, as well as some green veggies), and much much more. We're always looking up information in her poetically written books, and are now enjoying the rich diversity offered with her website. If you should find yourself interested in one of her highly informative consultations, feel free say hello from 'Monkey in the Garden'.Well the smells of soup are wafting up the stairs to where I'm sitting here writing away. Brandie is making a lovely lunch today and my tummy is grumbling. It's good to get a belly full of warmth before unloading the truckload of Christmas Tree goat food that's waiting on the back of the truck. Those goat ladies just love their breakfast of fir and pine and bark.Enjoy the sunshine,Peace,Michael and Brandie Monkeys