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.