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we declared friday an analog day at our house. no internet. no television. no digital cameras. no iPad, no computer, no Wii, no iPods and phones could only be answered, but otherwise not used for surfing the 'net, checking mail or playing. not even angry birds. sabin tried to say that her father couldn't even use his tools, but we pointed out that electric was different than electronic and we still wanted him to build stuff. the wood chipper was also allowed, as was the lawn mower. the children were all horrified, but they actually got through it quite well. sabin was tired after her big sisters left and almost had a meltdown due to lack of disney channel, but it was a momentary thing.

check out what i managed to do when i wasn't spending any time in front of the computer.

~ barry manilow's copacabana went through my head pretty much the entire morning, only to be replaced by rupert holmes pina colada song at some point. i guess i had tropical thoughts on the brain. not listening to an iPod was a bit much and perhaps music should have been allowed, but today was about leaving all of the devices alone.

~ i sat in the garden and drank my morning tea and read 3 in-depth articles in weekend avisen - one on how judas was unjustly scapegoated in the new testament, one on fingerprints and how they're not as reliable as previously thought and one about the intellectual power of india.

~ i made two kinds of stuffed bread - one with red pesto, bacon, goat cheese, parsley, egg and prima donna cheese and one with green pesto, bacon, roasted potatoes, mozarella, egg and prima donna cheese. both were equally loved by those who had them for lunch along with some smoked shrimp we bought in a fish market on the west coast.

~ i made the most perfect batch of aioli i've ever made and although my impulse was to jump online to find a recipe (i had actually turned off our router, so i couldn't just jump online unthinkingly), instead i turned to my cookbooks and found a great recipe (that also turned out perfectly) in hugh fearnley-wittingstall's river cottage every day. i highly recommend that cookbook, by the way. it's one of those you return to again and again, for simple, honest, seasonal fare.

[Image] new feather stones - inspiration was a feather-like bit of shell i found on the beach. ~ i sat outdoors and painted half a dozen stones without any interference from online inspiration.

~ i did four loads of laundry and hung them all out to dry in the sunshine and fresh air. and i'm trying to deal with the fact that my towels are now all crispy and resist throwing them in the dryer for 20 minutes to fluff them up. it's like a loofah, right?

~ finished a roll of kodak portra 400NC and started a new roll of fujichrome 100 in the pentax ME super that kristina gave me last fall.

~ planted a new strawberry bed (yes, more strawberries).

~ laid on a quilt on the lawn and read more of weekend avisen - an article on modern church art.

~ sneezed about 600 times, despite taking zyrtec, because it's birch pollen season.

~ worked with sabin and matilde for about an hour. matilde is slowly getting in shape after not being ridden all winter and today she was calm and didn't need to be lunged for ages before sabin got on.

~ i sat down and really looked through public bookstore, a lovely book produced by tim + tara thayer last year, and of which a couple of my photos are a part. i've had the book for ages and skimmed it when i initially received it, but it was first today that i sat down and REALLY looked at it properly. you can buy a copy of it here. it's well-edited and has a wide variety of thought-provoking work in it. i feel very proud to have been a part of the project.

~ made a beautiful big pitcher of lemonade using freshly-squeezed lemons (4) and 450 grams of honey from our beekeeping mentor (speaking of the bees, we've got the two bee "stalls" now and will get our bee familes next week!).

without being distracted by pinterest and facebook and the blogosphere in general, i found that i was more mindful of what i was doing. and it felt like time stretched out in a good way. it felt like there was enough time for everything i wanted to enjoy. this won't be the last of the analog days. tho' i'll admit they're much easier when the sun is shining and you want to be outdoors anyway.

oh, and the kids?  they played cards, they rode their bicycles, they went on a treasure hunt, and they had quality time with the bunnies. it was good for all of us.