First Camp Fire of the Season

D eagerly awaits...something.  What it is, he doesn't know!

Oh man, yesterday was awesome!  The weather was great, I got three load of laundry on the line, I worked outside with my poultry projects (see below) and I got to visit with friends while the boys were at a birthday party.  When we got home, we had our first campfire.

The ceremonial first flame!

We love our campfires.  There is nothing better than feeling like you live in a place where people could go on vacation...in fact, I'm always reminding myself we moved to our vacation spot.  We have wildlife, space, beauty, and peace and quiet...until the kids start talking.

Who wants a burned marshmallow?

As we waited for the perfect S'more making embers, the kids told dumb stories and I read out loud off the Kindle (I downloaded The Three Musketeers while sitting by the fire).  Then we did the best thing ever!

Grandad will eat the burned ones...and all the others too!

We hauled Grandad down to the fire in his wheelchair!!!  M tried to drive him down in the van, but Grandad had a hard time getting in the seat for some reason.  He can do it in the carport, but the backyard is different I guess.  The wheelchair was a bit bumpy, but walking backwards preventing him from pitching forward out of his chair.

After Grandad, M, and D headed back inside, I taught the kids some songs I learned when I was a kid at camp.  We counted stars and made wishes.  We watched bats.  These are my favorite memories.  I couldn't be happier.

Poultry Adventures

Yesterday, as M was siding the turkey house (that they never use), the turkeys put on the display.  Watching them puff up and act all cool is really fun.

The males walk around with their feathers up and blowing air... they act quite intimidating....until you feed them.

Then they go back to pipping little sweethearts that act like they are always starving to death.

They eat out of a planter base because we never got around to getting them a "real" feeder.  We made one from a bucket, but it was too labor intensive.  Instead, I have a section of downspout that goes through the fence.  I simply pour the food down the spout and it ends up in their dish.  The 2x4 keeps the turkeys from flipping the dish over when they stand on the edge.

This is one of the chicks that hatched out yesterday.  You can see the difference between this egg and the egg in yesterday's post.  That egg looked like it had been squished from the outside before the chick was ready to hatch.

Managing the hatching process is almost as fun as having the chicks themselves.  It takes about 21 days for chicks to develop.  You can see the beginning of the embryo when they are only four days along.  I "candle" the eggs every once in a while to check for quitters.  About halfway through the development, you can see movement!  It is almost as thrilling as seeing a human baby on an ultrasound!  Sometimes the eggs get stepped on by other chickens and baby is lost.  This is always a very sad find for me.  People avoid this by either using an incubator or by separating the hen from the rest of the flock.  I haven't gotten around to making my own brooding box, but that is in the plans this summer.  Right when the chicks are ready to hatch, they break through the membrane into an air pocket and start to peep.  I love picking the eggs up, holding them to my ear, giving them a little tap, and hearing the chick peep back at me.

Hatching Weekend Begins

We set two nests about three weeks ago and they have started to hatch out!  Last night we got a little guy and today we found one halfway out:

Miracle

We are on watch for 13 more eggs for the next few days.  We have to be careful to pull them out as soon as they start because our hens can accidentally squish them flat or injure the chicks while they are still weak.  We sure are learning a lot about chicks!

Upcycling an Upcycle

So I made this cute pillowcase into shirt and a skirt for E last summer and it was awful.  I tried to make a ribbon draw string waist and the ribbon pulled right out.  I never finished edging the sleeves.  It was so ugly I just gave up.  This morning, I cut it up again and turned it into this cute dress!  I got to practice my gathering skills too!  The body is a little too tight, but she is skinny enough to wiggle into it.  And I have a whole second pillowcase too!  That means I can make another dress for F!

Summer Starts

We still have a few loose ends to tie up with school, but I am so done!  We are going to move on to our summer daily schedule and do work in the morning and then play for the rest of the day.  I really need a break.

Pond Scum

Today we headed back down to the pond for an evening swim.  S is getting braver about swimming in the cold water.  And IJ is very patient with his coaxing.  He even got S to swing into the pond from the rope swing!

After I got tired of D climbing on me and mosquitoes biting me, I called everyone out of the water so we could go back to the house.  We headed back up the hill and stopped at the garden.  And then the creepiest thing happened....

IJ looked back down to where I had been sitting and saw this:

See how it is looking at us?  Like it is mad that we left because he was that close to swooping down and eating my baby?  It was seriously sitting right above my head, like only 20 feet at the most!  Well, above and to the side a bit.  I was not in the poop zone.

I happened to have the camera ready to go and got some awesome footage of the eagle flying.  I extracted a few frames from the video:

Looking right at me!

And heading off to the chicken coop!

That isn't our only run in with the local wildlife this week.  M came face to face with the bear yesterday as he was getting ready to leave for work.  The bear headed down the pond, but it didn't stay away for long.  It was back in our front yard when the guy came to test our well.  And last week I made M go out to protect my chickens when we heard the coyote in the pasture in the middle of the night.  Coyote calls give me the creeps!

Father's Day Surprise

Three weeks ago, on M's birthday, I started brooding a nest of eggs. Last night, M and I went out to candle the eggs because I knew their time was coming close...

Surprise!

...and we found a chick!  We found two, actually, but the other didn't make it.  It was flattened by the hen, who now has the name Big Fat Hen.  I like to name my hens after their personalities (I have another broody hen that is very vicious and pecks my hand as hard as she can.  I named her after a mean person I know).

Learning how to eat

 This little guy doesn't have a name yet, but he sure is sweet.  He doesn't have any other chicks to hang out with, so when I stick my hand in the brooder, he comes to snuggle.  I'm hoping the other eggs in this nest hatch soon... Hatching chicks is so much fun, and since we can always eat them, it doesn't seem a waste of time.  But we do have so many birds that I no longer know how many we have.

Pond Day!

There is nothing better than going to the beach on a low tide during the week when the beach is empty.  But no one would pick up their toys, so we didn't go.  Instead, I put all toys still left on the floor when the time was up in a big, black garbage bag.  Told the kids everything in the bag was going to the dump, even Daddy's stuffed monkey and their clothes and shoes.  I vacuumed.  And then I took the kids to the pond.

The grass "is as high as an elephant's eye" because our mower is broken and in the shop.  I hope it comes back soon!  I don't want to have to give the kids machetes so they can find their way home!

At the pond, I had just the right amount of rest and relaxation.  Nothing compares to knitting and Kindling in the sun.  Yes!  I have a Kindle! I bought it for myself when everyone was sick.  Luckily the package didn't come until I was well enough to read!

The girls and I stayed nice and dry, while the boys enjoyed the pond in their own special ways:

S on the paddle board

IJ wildly swinging

I just pulled out some family pictures from 2005 and IJ's hair is getting to look a lot like his cousin's....his GIRL cousin!  He is ready for a haircut now!

My Hero

You know something dreadful had to have happened to keep me from blogging all week.  And it did.  We got the flu!  It began with E about 10 days ago.  D came down with the bug last Friday, just in time for the Cub Scout summer camping trip.  When IJ woke up Saturday morning and puked on the ground outside the tent, M drove him home to the sick ward and returned to camp with S.  I came down with it Sunday night.  And Grandad has been sick the whole time, although where the chemo side effects end and the virus begins, no one knows.

Cranberry

M is my hero.  He not only took care of us (both sick and well), he managed to juggle my job, his job, his dad's needs, and his Cub Scout duties too!  Last night was our Crossover ceremony, where the boys move up to the next level.  On the way home from the ceremony, M saw a raccoon killing a litter of kittens at the top of our driveway!  He stopped the car and he and S rescued the two kittens that managed to survive.  They brought them home, true heroes in Scout uniforms!  It was a sight to behold.  The kitties are now living with our neighbor until they are strong enough to find homes.

"See the bees?"

D is working really hard to cut molars now that he is done being sick.  He is still dehydrated and has intestinal upset, but those molars want out!  So he is being a big, big, PILL!  Thank goodness M can work from home and can take him for walks around the property.  He convinced me to come out and see the summer flowers too...and I'm glad.

Nootka Rose

Fairy Flowers

But now I'd like to go back to bed.

Happiness is...

...line drying towels on a beautiful Spring day on a brand new clothesline...

...and sharing that happiness with a baby.

Baseball Season: Over

We made it to the end of another baseball season.  I'd like to thank the boys for having such a positive attitude about being really bad players and just playing to have fun.  I'd like to thank M for taking the quarter off taekwondo so we didn't completely lose our minds.  And I'd like to thank M again for taking over as many games and practices as he could...and letting me go when I needed some peace and quiet.

Here are some highlights from tonight's game, the last of the season!

IJ pitches an entire inning

S crosses first base

Is he nine or nineteen?  I can't really tell.

IJ-does he hit it?

Yes he does!

S gets to pitch the first half of the very last inning of the very last game

I have nothing more to say on the subject of baseball, except why do we do this to ourselves and our children?

Big Day for Big D

I guess every day is a big day when you are almost 14 months old.  Today, D got two bee stings in his knee.  So now we know he isn't allergic to bees!  We've discovered at least four bees nests around the house and in the pasture...just feet away from where the kids like to play.  D got stung by the bee that was in the pool.

Then he got pecked by a chicken when we were feeding them clover treats.  He looked at the chicken with a look, started to cry, stopped crying, and got mad.  He picked some clover, threw is on the ground where the chicken couldn't reach it and said, "Doh!"  His word for NO.  I said, "Did the chicken peck you?" and he started crying all over again!

He has developed object association-or whatever those fancy-pants child developmental authorities call it.  He puts shoes on his feet-although he owns none himself.  He brushes his hair with combs and brushes-although he has little hair.  And he know that Baby Einstein DVDs go in the DVD player...he just hasn't figured out how to get the DVDs out of the case first.  But he knows how to turn the TV on and off, open and close the DVD player, and how to press play.  He's brilliant!  It must be the Baby Einstein movies!

And at the end of his long day, he is completely crashed and hogging the whole bed!

Daisy Love

It looks like IJ loves me another year...

Don't forget to visit last year's daisy post!

Pool Day!

"Cannon Ball!"

Like everyone else in this area, we are really enjoying the weather this weekend!  I set up the pool while the boys were at an early morning game.

This guy really likes the water.  I have a small under bed storage container that I fill with water for him.  IJ will also entertain him with the hose.  I have so many pictures of D playing in water.  It was no surprise that he REALLY liked the pool.  And the cold water doesn't seem to bother him, much like IJ.

It was all fun and games until one of the kids said, "What is this orange stuff floating around in the pool?"  After a quick examination, I hollered, "Everyone OUT of the pool!"  We dumped the pool and refilled it and everyone was happy.

The boys slept in the tent last night.  They set it up by themselves and they stayed out there all night long by themselves.  We are so proud!  They are going to be great Boy Scouts.  Know how I know?  IJ asked if he could bring his knife to the tent, "Just in case the campfire spreads and I have to cut my way out of the tent."  There was no campfire last night.  And no knife in the tent either.

What I Like About D

This kid is funny.  The video shows that he has a sense of humor, but will have to be told about 100 times not to touch the hot stove...even after he's burned his fingers.  He is learning language fast, especially with the help of his siblings.  IJ is the one that taught him the yuck sound (but he also told his youngest sister that aliens could come out of the TV and get her).  D has also told me that diapers are yucky, coffee is yucky, and eggs are yucky.  All I have to say is Grandad shouldn't leave unfinished cups of coffee down where D can reach them without telling me first.

Beach Day!

What better way to spend a sunny day with a low tide than go to the beach?  Our trip fit perfectly between a visit from the palliative care nurse and the physical therapist.

I was able to get M to come along with us, although he insisted on taking his own car so he could leave if he wanted to (I was meeting some friends at the beach).

 Trips to the beach with M are always more educational than trips without him.

 There is a very cool tree root to climb on that eroded onto the beach a long time ago.  We got some great pictures of the kids climbing:

I'll just call these the End of the School Year pictures, because I am on serious burnout... yet I'm making plans for next year already...