Friday bullets, June 14, 2019

We've had two late nights in a row, so I don't know how long this will be.

  • We think the baby ducks might be starting to lay some eggs. We are finding little white eggs, about the size of a chicken egg, every so often. We don't have chickens who lay white eggs, so they must be from the ducks. Often eggs are smaller when a hen is first starting to lay. Once they get going, though, I'm going to need to create a bigger market for duck eggs. 
  • I've done a whole bunch of nothing this week. The weather has been beautiful; the perfect temperature for just sitting outside and enjoying the sun. So that is what I've been doing.
  • H. has totally embraced the reading game this year. She has been dutifully reading and reading and reading. Her card is about one third filled with stickers after just one week. I never am really sure how much she is actually getting out of her silent reading, but all that sitting and staring and sounding out words on her own certainly cannot hurt.
  • TM leaves on Monday to go to Ecuador on our church's high school mission trip.
  • Yesterday, we had unexpected visitors in the form of two county tax assessors. It seems they are visiting every house in the township to be sure that their records match what is actually there on the property. It was the first time I've ever actually met the person doing the property record and they were both very nice. We spent a long time discussing property assessments and taxes, and they answered a lot of my questions. But, I and my older children were still a bit shaken from having the property tax people show up. I think we are still recovering from our property tax experience at the Big Ugly House, and haven't forgotten that property taxes were the reason we had to sell it and move. The appearance of a tax assessor highlighted exactly how tender those feelings still really are.
  • Rosebud is doing well. Both M. and I were concerned for the first couple of days because she didn't seem to be eating very much at all. This is concerning when you can see a cat's hip bones. But then, she turned a corner and is now happily downing three cans of wet food a day. Of course she won't be able to eat like this forever, but for right now, she can use the calories. She also comes out of her box more and very occasionally lets us give her a small scratch on the head.
  • Have I mentioned that the family collective name for the three dogs in the house is Cerberus? You know, the three-headed dog that guards the gates of the underworld in Greek mythology? Whenever anyone comes to the door, the sound that the three of them make must be fairly close to what Cerberus must sound like. 
  • B.'s beehive is doing well, and he added a second super to it when he was out the other day. For those who don't have a son who is a beekeeper, this would be adding a new level to the hive to give the bees more room to spread out. It means the hive is doing well.
  • Emmy is now in her brand new stall. I meant to get pictures, but those will have to come another day.
  • Tomorrow is G., L., and B.'s birthdays, but we will be celebrating on Sunday because that is when everyone is free.
  • R. has had a pretty rough time gaining her equilibrium from us being gone and returning. I am growing weary.
And with that I'm tapped out. Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Making bias tape... otherwise known as the Sew, Mama, Sew! Giveaway

Image
( Sorry, the contest is now closed .... though you're welcome to leave a comment if you like.) It's Sew, Mama, Sew Giveaway time again.  I love bias tape.  It is so useful and so easy to use... finishing edges ... finishing seams ...  And while the pre-packaged stuff has it's place and I use it often, I really like to have patterned bias tape as well.  Enter one of my favorite little tools: the bias tape maker.  This one make 3/4 inch bias tape and I will be giving one away at the end of this post.  But first, I thought some of you might like to see what it does if you've never used one before. I don't have a rotary cutter, nice cutting mats, or even a proper cutting table (I cut-out things on my floor), so if I can do this, so can you.  Here is my admittedly quirky method. Step 1:  Lay out the fabric and fold a corner over to find the bias.  The woven threads should be at right angles to the part you turned up. Step 2:  Using a ruler and some sort of mark
Read more

Apple picking in the rain

Image
Today was our planned day to go and pick apples.  It was raining off and on, but when it comes to fruit, we don't let a little water get in our way so off we went.  We met our friends and enjoyed their company and picked a lot of apples (3 1/2 bushels).  We also ate quite a few. G.  L. K.  (with an apple nearly as big as his head) P8, TM and L. Now, I don't know about you, but even picking 7 bags of apples does not take us very long.  It's a shame to drive so far only to turn around and go home, so we packed lunches, headed to a park, and enjoyed the now sunny weather. TM and P8 A good day all around.  Of course now I have to do something with all these apples...
Read more

Kenzie on the beach

Image
We have made it back home. I am feeling a little more balanced, but it was hard saying goodbye to a house we've created such meaningful memories in for the past 34 years. I'll write more about both later.  In the meantime enjoy pictures of Kenzie living his best life as a beach dog.  Note the ears blowing in the wind (Photo credit TM) (Photo credit for the rest MC)
Read more