Monday DayLook: May 16, 2011

Looking out from my back porch... GREEN is everywhere!  It was sunny, but is now a bit cloudy. 

I am thankful for... friends who offer a willing ear and provide excellent advice.

I am reading…gardening and cooking magazines.

I am hearing... Louis talking and trying to push a chair around the school room so he can reach cool stuff (ie. stuff he shouldn’t be touching).

I am wearing… jeans and a grey NDSU t-shirt.

From the sewing/craft room (aka. laundry room!)…the room has been temporarily moved to the main floor so Angelina can work on her 4-H projects and be close to me while I work in the kitchen.  She made great progress on her corduroy skirt, and finished cutting out her pajamas and knit top.  Patience be with me as I teach her to sew in an invisible zipper!

From the school room... closer, closer, closer to the end.  Cat tests are done for all students, just need to send them in and await results. 

An inspiration occurred while working with Dash on Latin today.  Since he’s really working on the 9th grade lesson plan for Latin, we are going to stop this struggle right now, even though there is only a week’s worth of work and a quarter test left.  He agreed with me that he doesn’t understand some of the sentence structure/translation rules as well as he should and that it would be OK to repeat this subject next year.  The majority will be easy, but we’ll be able to spend a little more time on problem areas.  Maybe he’ll even be able to test out of a few chapters by taking the quarter tests.  At least, that’s our plan for now …

From the kitchen... tried a new banana bread recipe with rum extract.  Eric and the kids liked it.

From the Garden…  hope to plant a couple rose bushes, a few perennials and irises, a few of the SFG’s, and dig up day lilies from my MIL’s garden.  This is a week long list!

From the FarmYard…  the Mallard duck has left her nest.  Either she finally realized that people live on the other side of the glass and we move around a LOT or she didn’t like the toddler banging on the window!  So, while we are extremely disappointed, that is the nature of nature.  I hope she is alive and has just found a better (ie. quieter!) spot to nest. 

The chicks are moved into their new and bigger home in the Wahoo.  I miss seeing them every morning in the garage, but not the chick-dust covering everything!  It’s absolutely amazing how fast the cornish rock cross chicks grow compared to heritage breeds.  The cornish rocks are definitely meant to be raised for meat – they are about twice as big as the Barred Rocks and Buff Orpinton chicks.

A successful moment… the basement and carpeted stairs have been vacuumed and a load of laundry has been folded and put away.

Another Inspiration… reminded once again during this weekend’s homily, of the importance of daily mass or an hour of adoration during the week.  And, that computer and TV are a source of distraction and waste (Fr. mentioned they are good, too, but in general waste a lot of time).  Adding either to our week includes a bit of planning, but the heart and mind do long for the peace of either!  The desire is here, now to pray for ‘the how.’

A few plans for the rest of the week…
Monday: School, cleaning, gardening, TKD.

Tuesday: Hosting a group of friends at the farm.  Fun for moms and kids.

Wednesday: School, cleaning, gardening.

Thursday:   Packing and prep for the boys’ trip, TKD in the evening.

Friday/Saturday/Sunday:   Father/Son camping trip for Eric and the three oldest boys.  Angelina, Louis and I get to hang out at the farm … planting and doing chores.  Angelina and I hope to attend the Camria Ballet Recital on Sunday.

A picture memory... it’s seeding time again … Louis has enjoyed riding in the tractor, as has Graham.

18/52 and 19/52

Joining Barbara in commemorating the year in once a week posts … just whatever is going on in your life: the mundane, the crazy, the normal, the everyday.

Lots of pics from the last couple weeks have been posted already.  But, here are a few of my favorites.

No current pic of the chicks, but BOY are they growing.  The little flyers are roosting on top of their quart-sized waterers, meaning it’s just a short flight to the top of their stock-tank home.  I fear I’ll find them running around the garage any day.  Probably time to move them to a larger home; that just might be on Saturday after we clean the Wahoo!

Thank goodness the formal school year for us is almost completed.  Dash and Angelina finished up their Math and Religion this week.  The three younger boys are going stir-crazy as I try to spend a little more time with the older two on final tests and finishing up their Latin.  If only the sun would shine a little more consistently …. they could go outside to play.  WE’ve been trying to fit in work on 4-H prjects each day, too. 

When the evenings are nice (ie. no rain and not windy), we are all outside.  The little boys enjoy playing in the sandbox, Angelina searches for worms to feed the chicks, Dash rides 3-wheeler, I garden (Eric worked/tilled my garden on Tuesday night), and Eric is usually out in the field late.  This equals NO TV … and baths every night!!

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for the following…

1. Wheat seeding is done!
2. The front flower planter is ‘planted’ and the mother duck continues to nest.
3. Kids … isn’t that little guy up above just the cutest!!
4. Haven’t lost any chicks, yet.
5. My grow light shelves, which give the pretense of gardening, even when it’s yucky outside. 
6. The school year is almost done … the end is in sight … subjects are being finished …
7. The trees are really starting to leaf out and make more green space!

A Descriptive–not wordless - Wednesday

 

The four wild-looking sheep.

This is Tommy, our Mini-Lop buck, who now has no mate.

The four smaller pigs are ours – they like rooting around and smelling everything.

The black pig and the belted pig below are another 4-H family’s, but we are keeping all the pigs together.  They are social creatures.

The tomatoes have grown a lot since this photo.  I needed to repot some of the plants in the lower photo yesterday.  Overall, the seed growing business has been a great deal of fun and has gone very well.  Making me wonder why I haven’t done this before!

Ok, you are probably wondering what this blurry photo is all about … see the round whitish brown blob in the very center … that’s a Mallard egg!  This pic was taken with only four eggs in the nest.  She’s doubled that number.

Couldn’t resist taking these pics.  Sometimes the sky is just so absolutely beautiful … the light is truly heavenly.

My deceptively green yard!

Rabbits

We were expecting to have a nest-box full of baby rabbits next week, but the mother rabbit (a beautiful Mini-Lop) died unexpectedly over the weekend.  I’d just checked her Friday, and her dewlap (area under her chin where she would have gotten the fur to line her nest) was getting large and she was eating well.  Angelina checked in on Saturday during chores and all was well, but she noticed the mother hadn’t eaten as much.  The next morning, Eric discovered her.  Angelina (it was her rabbit) and her dad buried Checkers Sunday afternoon.

Sometimes these things happen.  We couldn’t determine a cause.  So, plans change.  4-H friends have a Mini-Rex buck whom we hope to mate with Princess Leia (our Mini-Rex doe).  We plan to get her over to their farm this week, and further hope to have a batch of rabbits by the second week of June.  Only time will tell.

This is Princess Leia.

Monday DayLook: May 9, 2011

Looking out from my back porch... the lawn is truly greening up, but it’s deceptive!   On closer inspection, the broad-leaved weeds have a strong hold on our field-turned-yard.  The trees and lilacs are starting to leaf out, too.

I am thankful for... sunny cool days.  Days when schoolwork is completed without whining and done before 4pm.

I am reading… books on poultry.  A few of my laying hens aren’t as healthy as they could be, and I’m trying to find an organic/natural resolution to their problem.

I am hearing... balls rolling on the foosball table and Louis digging in the legos.

I am wearing… jean capris, orange t-shirt and grey cardigan with flip-flops.

From the sewing/craft room (aka. laundry room!)… Sewing is going on!!!  Both Dash and Angelina cut out their 4-H clothing projects on Saturday.  I also cut out a pattern for kid pajamas. 

From the school room... Angelina took her CAT test today (I do this every year, even if it’s not needed by the school district), and Zeke started his CAT test.  Dash is scheduled to be tested by a certified monitor on Wednesday.  His is the only test that must be submitted.  Dash and Angelina are becoming more accomplished on piano.  I enjoy listening to each of them practice and wish it were me playing!

From the kitchen... Zeke made chocolate chip cookies on Saturday.  Otherwise, I’ve felt mighty uncreative in the kitchen, lately. 

From the FarmYard …  Did I mention that the pigs arrived last Monday??  Pictures of them below.  They are rambunctious and running around when they aren’t eating or sleeping. 

sheep, four wild sheep according to Dash, arrived on the farm Sunday afternoon.  Eric and all the kids left to pick up the critters and gave me some quiet time in my messy home. 

And!… a mallard duck is nesting in the front planter.  Thus far she’s layed 8 eggs.  I’d like to get in there and plants some flowers (it’s a big planter and planting can be done while she’s away and without disturbing her nest)

From the Garden …  one planter has been planted … brown-eyed susan vine, gerber daisies, sweet potato vines, and something with white flowers (can’t remember the name!).  Weeded the garden bed on the side of the garage.  It felt wonderful to get out and do some yard work!

A Pull-My-Hair-Out moment … Latin … specifically Henle I.  This is the language we started with and have invested soo very much time into the learning.  I must say that Latin is really the only consistent challenge for my two oldest children.  But OOHHH is Henle I challenging for both child and teacher right now …. when the outdoors are calling and we’d both rather be doing something (anything) else.

A successful moment… I am caught up on laundry. 

A few plans for the rest of the week…
Monday: Tae Kwon Do.  4-H projects.

Tuesday: 4-H projects.  Planting in the garden?

Wednesday: Dash & Angelina have orthodontist appts, I have a dental check-up for the periodontal surgery I had in March.

Thursday:   Tae Kwon Do.  4-H projects.  Planting in the garden?

Friday/Saturday/Sunday:   4-H projects.  Possible 4-H meeting.

A picture memory...