Chipmomk

2010-11-06T06:28:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since my last post, I know.
In the interest of keeping my family life private - and my children protected - I have decided to close up shop on Chipmomk.

I will no longer be posting entries here.

For my family and friends - I plan to start up a new blog in the near future that is password protected. Will keep you posted, if I have your email address...

2010-10-01T15:07:00.000-07:00

Yeah, this pretty much sums it up.....

2010-10-01T12:45:00.001-07:00

Persimmons.

Apparently, we have a wild persimmon tree. I'm not entirely sure what to DO with a wild persimmon, but they look quite lovely hanging from the branches right now.

And I suppose the good news is that with every wild fruit tree we discover, I have renewed hope that an orchard is a possibility on the farm. Still looking for a good wild crab tree and am surprised to have not found one, yet....

Every week there's something new to discover.

Maybe next week we can find an elusive paw-paw....

2010-10-01T12:01:00.000-07:00

The guineas are slowly beginning to lay eggs. We got the guineas around mid-May, and by the end of September, a few eggs were beginning to appear. Problem is, they are appearing in the strangest places. A few, with odd shell, or rubbery shells, appeared under the perches in the guinea hutch, which seems reasonable enough, although it would appear that the guinea who "laid the egg" did so while still on the perch - score zero for maternal instincts. More eggs have appeared randomly in the tomato patch, one was found along the wall of the house and one over by the compost heap. The fact that these birds are able to reproduce at all is clearly a miracle.

A lovely young lady at our local farmers market sells guinea eggs and tells me they are tasty and nutritious. So, IF the guineas laid eggs and IF we could collect them, or IF they went broody and hatched them out, that would be neat, no?

Soooo, I made the guineas a little nesting box. I even put a golfball in one of the boxes, as I had read somewhere that this might give these dimwitted birds the notion that THIS, the NESTING BOX would be a good spot to put, oh, you know, anything one might have that looks vaguely spherical. And off-whitish.

The nesting box has been an utter failure. Although one guinea does appear to have hollowed out a wee spot to rest, directly UNDERNEATH the entire nesting box itself, no one appears to be using the boxes. No one. My next plan of attack is to cover the nesting box in some old juniper twigs and see if this sort of "camo" will encourage the birds to want to nest in the boxes. Stupid guineas.

In the meantime, on the other side of the coop, my chicken nesting boxes house sleepy chickens and as of yet, no eggs, either, but that's because the chickens are still a little too young. But by next month, I'm hoping we'll start to see some chicken eggs in my beautiful nesting boxes.(And, yes, I'm inordinately proud of the nesting boxes - it gave me a chance to learn how to use our new nail gun - FUN! While using up lots of old scraps of wood from our house reno! Free! Sort of...)

2010-09-07T18:21:00.001-07:00

We've had a busy weekend, took lots of pictures, but obviously all of those activities are superseded by the biggest event of all - ALL munchkins starting school at their NEW school!!! Whoot! Big C. has been attending school for a week, but the girls' first day was today, and they were crazy excited about the prospect. So, I shall leave pictures of the chickens,pictures of the White House visit, and pictures of our various other events to the side, and present you with this, the official back to school shot of the crew....

OK - everybody get in the car....

2010-08-31T08:37:00.000-07:00

Why do back-to-school photos always sport bad haircuts where my son is concerned? Nonetheless, I think he's pretty cute. He appeared very confident and happy on this, his first day of Kindergarten. I suppose at this juncture I am supposed to comment on how my baby has grown, and how quickly the time flew by, but really, this summer was LOOOOONNNG and hot and busy and crazy and, yes, we still haven't unpacked all the boxes since moving and so, when I stop to think about it, I think, yup, we're right where we're supposed to be.
Kindergarten.
"Real" school.
He's ready - I'm ready - and we are all hoping that the school year will be filled with wonderfulness.
Now to get the girls ready to start Pre-K next week......

2010-08-28T16:59:00.000-07:00

Our trip to Canada was wonderful. We got to see Grene and Grandstan, we got to see Niagara Falls (because we were driving right by it on our way north, and what the heck, watching water fall over a cliff with 30 000 other people is always fun. Caden's hat flew right off his head and into the mists, so we even have a memorable incident!). We got to see Uncle Rob and Aunt Frannie (and stay in their luxurious home - it was awesome) and African Lion Safari (where we were attacked by an Angry Ostrich) and the Donkey Sanctuary (where we groomed donkeys and learned that they make A Lot of Noise). Also, buttertarts, Aero bars and maple cream cookies were highlighted.
Whew.
'Twas a busy week!

2010-08-28T10:36:00.000-07:00

Pictures of Canada.

2010-08-28T10:12:00.000-07:00

We had friends come to visit for four days this week - all the way from NC!- and we kept very busy. We spent a day at Stribling Orchard, and managed to pick lots of peaches and lots and lots of apples (4 pecks!!!). The orchard itself is beautiful, on high rolling hills with a glorious view, and the apple trees were filled with fruit, which made picking easier for the shorter amongst us.

For lunch, we went to the Apple House in Linden, which not only serves FANTASTIC bbq, but also fries up the yummiest apple butter donut, rolled in cinnamon and sugar. Almost as good as the ones I used to buy at the Guelph Farmer's market, back in the day. Michelle and I agreed that, left alone with a dozen of those bad boys, they'd be ALL GONE in under 15 minutes. I would've taken a photo of them to share with you all, but there don't seem to be any left in the house. Num num num.

Caden demonstrates the handling of the "picking pole" on a peach tree.

Piper hangs out.

Quinn recommends an apple.

Group portrait.

2010-08-11T19:25:00.000-07:00

We've been busy bees here.
We've been attending an outdoor Arts and Crafts camp, which occurs every morning for three hours, in the absolutely craziest heat that this area has EVER had. This makes for some tired and cranky campers when I come to pick them up at noon. We are also preparing for the start of school - Big C. actually starts at the end of August! - and then there's all the fun things to do around here, which include this weird shot of us watching Dada mow the back yard with the brush hog. I think this was the "Day of the Thousand Angry Wasps". Dada seems to have a penchant for stirring up the wildlife when he mows.

We also picked three enormous pecks of peaches at a local orchard. And then we froze peaches, and canned some peaches, and made "Peach and Rum and Brown Sugar Jam", and peach crumble and sliced peaches with blueberries for dessert. The urchins love the picking and the preparing, and they seem to do a pretty good job at consuming, too.
For our next kitchen project, I'm hoping to find pears and apples to make sauces and crumbles to put up in the freezer. And by then it will be time to - brace yourselves - put chickens to rest in the freezer. Not sure if that will make a blog post or not.....

2010-07-25T20:31:00.000-07:00

This weekend was one of record-breaking heat, and it really was unbearable outside. I felt so bad for the guineas and chicks in the coop that I let the grown-up guineas stay in the outdoor enclosure overnight, instead of shutting them inside (side benefit - less poo inside the hutch in the morning,so score one for me, the Chief-Poo-Remover-er). However, Big C. was absolutely determined to engage in a building project, and thus it was that we settled upon the creation of the sand box. So, I'd like to unveil our lovely new sand box - ta da!

The advantage of having your property completely littered with two year's accumulation of building material and miscellaneous building crap is that finding something to make a sand box out of is relatively easy. Walk out door. Look on ground. Assemble with nails or screws of your choice.

Which is why this particular sand box bears an eerie resemblance to the floor joists in our garage. And the sand, if one was very observant, is uncannily similar to the sand used in the grout between the bricks that cover our entire house. Free labor provided by Dada and a "found" reciprocating saw. We do own the hammer he used, though.

And here's an interesting side bar - that sunny patch of grass behind the kids in the sand box? That used to be the location of the dreaded 1960s trailer that was on the property when we first bought it. So Big C.'s project wins a star - not only for recycled content and environmental beautification, but also because now his sisters really think he's a hero. Turns out a sand box in the shade is a most lovely way to spend a hot sunny Sunday.

2010-07-22T19:38:00.000-07:00

Our property has about 27 acres of forested land. Big trees, little trees, dead trees and live ones. I have learned about the highly toxic black cherry, whose leaves are the most fatal when withering, and I have learned how to identify a black gum tree without a shadow of a doubt (cut a wee branch along its length and look for the central, rectangular "cells" in the pith, like a stack of little blocks). I can identify hickory, swamp maple,tulip poplar,sassafras, sycamore and dogwood as well as the seedlings of pawpaw. Pretty good for a Canadian girl who hadn't seen any of these, growing up! The woods here are an entirely different entity than those of my childhood, and it has been humbling and fascinating to learn about so many new species.

It is amazingly ironic, then, that one of the countless birds around here chose to create a nest - not in one of our many trees, heck, no - but in a rickety metal ladder we had leaning up against our "portable storage facility" at the front of the house (yes, the back portion of an 18-wheeler. Scenic, no? It has been here so long that I don't notice it anymore, which is probably a Bad Thing.).

The kids like to climb the ladder to check on the baby birds, while I fear for the birds' safety and wonder what the heck the parents were thinking.

Every day is a new adventure.

2010-07-22T19:25:00.000-07:00

We've been very busy - Grandma (and cousin Maddie) came for a visit, and approved the new/old house! We've been doing swim camp and riding lessons and jujitsu and the guineas and chicks are growing, and the garden is, too. We went to the local county fair (where junk food for the day is the rule - yes, Funnel Cake was a large part of my dinner) and we've been discovering new, cool things in our neighborhood. Mom and Pop bakeries, small grocery stores offering amazing local products, local milk in glass jugs....this is a pretty cool little corner of the world!

And sometimes, we just sit on the front porch and enjoy the view....

2010-07-11T09:07:00.000-07:00

Big. C. grinned the ENTIRE time he was on Audrey. And the instructor thinks he has a "natural affinity". WHO KNEW????

2010-07-11T08:48:00.000-07:00

Miss. P. on Audrey - looking a little apprehensive, but she assured me later that she really DID have fun.

2010-07-11T08:36:00.000-07:00

Miss. Q struts her stuff on Audrey.

2010-07-11T08:05:00.000-07:00

The chicks are here! The chicks are here!
31 Wyandottes and one "mystery chick".
They're living in the hallway for a few days, so I can keep an eye on them, and then they will make the big transition to the coop! That means Big C. and I are going to have to get busy building some nesting boxes this week....

2010-07-11T07:46:00.000-07:00

The proud farmer.
Or at least the proud guinea-hutch-making assistant.
I know I'm biased as his Muma and all, but isn't he handsome?

Which brings us to Guineas. The weirdest domesticated bird to be found. But,having raised them from day-old chicks, I have to say that I have taken a real shine to these birds. Out of thirty chicks, 28 have survived to adulthood, which seems pretty hardy. And now that they are free-ranging around the homestead, our tick population has plummeted. I can say this with some authority, as every night I "tick check" the children AND the dog. At first, we would pick two or three ticks off the kids in the course of any given day, and on bad evenings, I have actually pulled more than 30 ticks off of the dog. (And yes, we DO use an anti-flea and anti-tick - FRONTLINE - medication on him, every three weeks, as advised by our vet). Sooooo, I know from ticks.

Imagine how pleased I was last night, then, when I found NOT A SINGLE TICK, not on the dog, not on the kids, not on me. The guineas have been free-ranging for barely 2 weeks! Granted, this is the end of "tick season" and Rick has mowed and cut and trimmed and slashed the rampant verdant growth around the farmhouse, but I'd like to give the guineas their due. They return to their hutch every night (see below), they wander around the farm eating bugs all day, and they are excellent at warning of approaching visitors, low flying hawks, and 747s (they are admittedly a little confused by large airplanes, causing them to panic and run for cover).
Here's to guineas!

Now I'm off to deal with the chickens...

2010-06-21T12:45:00.000-07:00

Cue the "Green Acres" music....Big C. has taken to the tools of farm-land like a duck to water. He loves loves loves to be given a task, working outside alongside Muma or Dada. Here he shows off the interior of the chicken coop/guinea hutch, which has consumed much of our energy lately.

Other tasks include hangin' in the pickup truck, which the girls seem to prefer (Miss.P was actually WORRIED ABOUT HER NAIL POLISH yesterday, and therefore declined to help me unload straw from the back of the truck. Gahhhhh. How in the world will I raise two Princesses????)

2010-06-20T20:00:00.000-07:00

We have a cherry tree on our property! It is down the fence row, quite a way from the house, and almost over-grown by a couple of ratty looking dogwoods. I can't really identify the type of cherry - it is very very sweet, but it has that cherry-red translucent quality you would normally expect from a sour "pie" cherry. They are small and yummy with a sizable pit. And there are millions of them on this very unlikely looking tree....so, what better to do in the early morning than pick a wee bucket of cherries and make cherry muffins? Yum yum yum....
The three urchins gave them six thumbs up.

2010-06-20T19:55:00.000-07:00

Thankfully, we aren't living in the garage, in all its Tyvek-covered glory. It's quite, uh, rustic, currently. But this is how the house looks, as of June 20th. I'm told the brick masons will be arriving tomorrow, and I'm told we may even have shutters by the end of this week. Rumor has it that the electrician and the plumber will be stopping by, as well, so, hey, maybe we'll have lots of new things to post on the blog!!!
Stay tuned!

2010-06-19T19:19:00.000-07:00

My apologies for the delay in getting back to this old blog. My absolutely lame excuse is that we moved - finally - to the farmhouse in Virginia - while Rick was overseas. And sold our house in North Carolina. And built a chicken coop and still haven't unpacked all the boxes, and made some nice raised garden beds and still haven't found the box that has the rest of my glass mixing bowls in it. And a few other things, along the way.
For those of you who forgot about the farmhouse, here's a little memory-jogger:

It looks a little better than this, now that we are here.... but it would appear that, despite two years of work, our contractor STILL WASN'T FULLY PREPARED FOR OUR ARRIVAL. I guess all those times that I would call him, long-distance, from North Carolina, and tell him we REALLY, TRULY, ARE moving to Virginia - well, I guess he thought I was KIDDING. Or merely testing him to see what his reaction MIGHT be.

Because on that fateful day when the kiddos and Josie and I fell, exhausted, through the front door of the farmhouse, knowing that all our worldly possessions were somewhere on a highway between here and there behind us, well, let's just say the house wasn't really DONE. As in, we had only one bathroom with BOTH a functioning toilet AND a functioning sink. And it was on the main floor (that would be one floor AWAY from all the bedrooms, for those of you keeping score). The children were never really fans of the whole "wash your hands after using the potty" rule, anyway. But this - the absence of nearby sinks in which to perform said duty - made the rule practically obsolete. So, yeah, ewwwwww.

I spent 2 weeks brushing my teeth twice a day in the laundry-filled laundry room. (The washing machine hadn't been hooked up properly so, while we accumulated MUCH laundry, it had to wait...but at least the laundry room had a functional sink....)

Also missing - screens. Window, or door. This means that you are faced with a choice - either suffocate from the noxious fumes from the freshly refinished hardwood floors, OR open the windows and doors and invite 7000 flies, 473 stink bugs, 113 things called a "house centipede" (which, ick, nasty) and two very angry wasps into the indoors with you. Send flyswatters. (Miss P. calls them "Flyswappers")

And mud. We had been promised a verdant carpet of green, lush grass to cover the sea of red clay that has pretty much surrounded the house since construction began. The reality is a patchy assortment of weeds and some very sad blades of grass that bring to mind those guys who should've shaved off the last of the glory-days hair style years ago, but cling stubbornly to those sad little wispy strands still dangling forlornly to their shiny scalps. You know the ones. My yard is a metaphor for male-patterned baldness.

The dog, the kids, the worker dudes - everybody brings this clay-ey red mud into the house. The floors are covered in a fine veneer of red clay dust. Every. Single. Day. The kids' socks are red. The floor mats are red. The pads of the dog's feet are red. When it rains, the rivers of mud running through the front yard are - yeah, red. Gahhhhhhhhh. This juxtaposes quite nicely with the mulberry stains (from the three trees surrounding the house) which are purple, cover any surface NOT already red, and do NOT wash out. Ever. Mulberry juice is more permanent than permanent ink. OxyClean weeps when it sees mulberry. Trust me on this.

But I know Grandma wants to see pictures, so I'll try to comply over the next couple of days.
Here are a few to tide you over....moving day (and no, we didn't put them INSIDE the moving van), and two of a wee excursion to DC on a sunny day - when unpacking boxes just wasn't any fun anymore....
Will post more, later!

2010-04-20T20:39:00.001-07:00

Yeah, spring is lovely and all, but this pollen is KILLING me already. Can't breathe, can't sleep, can't stop scratching my eyes - gahhhhhhh.

Happy Spring, everybody. (The red-bud are in bloom at the cottage, see?)

2010-04-20T20:35:00.000-07:00

On Grandma's visit, Grandma's gift to Big C. was a 300+ piece Lego set. Here, Uncle Scott can be seen wishing he had stayed at home - in Pennsylvania. Big C. is THRILLED to have an "assistant".

2010-04-20T20:26:00.000-07:00

Grandma came for a visit and bought outfits for the urchins....Wee Q. is modeling her selection - a mermaid outfit, replete with tail. She accessorized this outfit with a hippo-on wheels, flower tiara, silk purse, and "unique" shoes.
Meanwhile, Miss. P. selected a wedding gown, which, you'll notice, has a matching veil and bouquet. She also accessorized with a teddy bear and a silver necklace.

2010-03-30T18:48:00.000-07:00

Happiness is a rocking chair on the cottage porch at sunset, with your dollies and your blanket.

2010-03-30T18:42:00.000-07:00

Wood-fairy at the cottage.

2010-03-30T18:21:00.000-07:00

Before and after photos are some of my favorites when it comes to house renovations....that said, the following two pictures aren't really before-and-after, more like before and during. If you follow that. That's the same newel post, and while it looks almost black in the picture, it's really a deep, lovely mahogany that still shows the grain of the wood. Oh and all the missing spindles all the way up the staircase? You CANNOT TELL which ones are new and which ones are old - they all look spectacular. I can't wait to finally unveil the refinished stair treads - I haven't been able to see them yet, but I'm hoping the overall effect will be yummy.

2010-03-30T18:04:00.000-07:00

The kitchen has seen some real progress - the plaster coat on the range hood is on, and I think I like it in it's natural state (apparently you're supposed to paint it, but I kinda like it this way). And - TA-DA! - the barnwood is on the island! I hope this makes it rustic enough that Grandma will feel comfortable frying an egg of a morning (she found the chandeliers to be a little grand for the humble frying of an egg, but barn board? Barn board pretty much requires fried eggs, right? Right?)

The steam oven - my foray into experimental cooking - has been placed in it's rightful home (the first appliance to have that honor - I'm still not certain on the whereabouts of the refrigerators....they're MIA apparently). You can also sorta kinda see a bunch of slabs of marble sitting on the counter above the steam oven. Choosing a counter-top material has proven to be something of an, erm, adventure. Stay tuned for the final word.....

The front porch has been beautifully clad in Pennsylvania bluestone, and we even have a step up to the porch now, so one doesn't have to heave oneself up while muttering about the age of one's knees and wondering how the worker dudes have been doing this for over a year now....yeah, the bottom "step" is still an old hunk of plywood, but at least we're headed in the right direction!!!!

2010-03-30T17:53:00.000-07:00

It really is the little things....things like scupper boxes and copper downspouts....

Things like a water pressure tank and hot water heaters, make me really really happy for our old house. I mean, when you think about it, it hasn't really had any of those things in a very very long time - or never - and THAT means we're one step closer to making it a proper home. Isn't that a pretty picture????

2010-03-02T15:56:00.000-08:00

I'm having a terrible time downloading pictures tonight. This site generally stinks when it comes to adding pictures to my text, but tonight, well, let's just say I'm having a Very Hard Time Restraining Myself (from pitching my computer in the backyard). Anywhoooo, I am endeavoring to get some shots of the farmhouse put up here...hope it works....

The photo here (hopefully) shows the master bedroom, where we spent Saturday cleaning up the original doors and added a protective coating of water-based polyurethane to 'em. Because THAT'S how I like to spend my birthday weekend.

Whoot.

2010-03-02T14:02:00.000-08:00

The kitchen is coming along...

The family room is painted and the floors are finished (and hiding under protective paper). So, here you can see the hallway (kinda yellowy orange) the family room (greeny gray) and the library (gray, to the left of the pic, thru the doorway).

Upstairs, we worked on tidying up the finish of the original doors, before they are re-hung in the bedroom doorways. I think they look pretty wonderful (if you sort of squint and pretend that those big chunks of cardboard aren't there).

And this, this is the long awaited, much anticipated, longingly regarded new stove. I CANNOT WAIT to start cooking on this baby....

2010-02-14T17:32:00.000-08:00

The best thing about birthdays is having your friends help you celebrate. Preferably while wearing full princess regalia. Because THAT'S how we roll....Happy Birthday, my Princesses....

2010-02-14T17:18:00.000-08:00

The birthday girls had their big day today !!

There were princess cupcakes and princess outfits and princess necklaces and princess crowns and princess shoes. And we ate lots of fruit salad and ham (the food groups of choice for the Princess-set, for those of you NOT in-the-know).

2010-02-06T19:27:00.000-08:00

So, we've had a full week of stay-at-home time, partially due to weather and school closings, and more depressingly, due to a horrific hacking, snotty-nosed , coughing, gagging, feverish cold which struck all three urchins at roughly the same time. While the cold continues to linger, I'm pretty sure we need to go to school on Monday.
We're starting to go a little crazy....

2010-02-06T19:16:00.000-08:00

Making cake.

Unfortunately, it was a healthy cake, made with 4 cups of zucchini and whole wheat flour (amidst the cocoa and chocolate chips).

So, we had to fix that.

An inch of buttery frosting and some M&Ms quickly pushed it back into the "astonishingly bad for you" category. Finishing it off with pink sugar sprinkles just added a certain "je ne sais quoi."

Most tasty with a cold glass of milk.

2010-02-06T19:13:00.000-08:00

The stegosaurus costume.
For those days when one is feeling Extra Prehistoric....

2010-02-06T18:52:00.000-08:00

Inspiration - Van Gogh.

2010-01-19T12:16:00.000-08:00

So, we made it up to the farmhouse this past weekend, and as promised, here are a few photos...
The little man inspects the new plaster, and makes suggestions for additional decorative elements.

2010-01-19T11:59:00.000-08:00

The farmhouse floors have been refinished, but I didn't really get to see them, because they are safely under wraps while the painters paint every known surface in the place. I cheated a little , though, and pulled back a bit of the paper in the upstairs hallway.
Wow.
Remember, the floorboards looked really really sad when we first bought the place. But now? I think they are going to be lovely....

2010-01-19T11:21:00.000-08:00

A few photos of the kitchen .

This one shows the wee built-in bookcase for the cookbooks (in the center of the picture) and through the doorway on the left is the pantry, with oodles and oodles of shelving...The big doorway on the far right gives you half a glimpse of the french doors in the breakfast room, which ONE DAY will lead out to a lovely garden, but which currently lead out to a muddy, orange-clay-filled pit. In the foreground is the Island-of-My-Dreams. Okay, here's another shot, again with the cookbook shelves, the doorway to the pantry, the big doorway to the breakfast room, and more of the Island...On the far right you can just make out the range hood...

More of the range hood and the island. The island has been designed to store all sorts of goodies, from all angles. It will also house the steam oven, and we plan to plonk a large sink right next to the raised part (we raised part of the island so as to block the view of the island counter top when one is sitting in the breakfast room. Why clean up when you can just hide your filth???)

2010-01-19T10:13:00.000-08:00

The library shelves !

2010-01-07T19:15:00.000-08:00

And Now For Something Completely Different:

This will only be meaningful to those of you who spent a lot of time in the 60s and 70s, watching Canadian tv. These public service announcements pretty much made up the entirety of "educational tv" during my formative years. Enjoy.

2010-01-06T13:08:00.000-08:00

Skinny's. An absolutely imperative lunch stop while visiting Grene and Grandstan. Go for the burgers, onion rings and beer. Stay for the "atmosphere".
Two fine patrons of Skinny's.
Hi Grene! Hi Frannie!!!

2010-01-06T12:45:00.000-08:00

Things to do on a cold (ish) beach in December......

Turn your feet several shades of fascinating blue by walking in the water:

Bury Treasure:

(I was thinking of calling this shot "I thought you said you were going to leave Dada's head ABOVE the sand." But changed my mind.)
Wander aimlessly:

Analyze the adhesive properties of wet versus dry sand, and the longevity of adhesion of same through rigorous frolicking:

2010-01-06T05:20:00.000-08:00

We had a Merry Christmas. How about you?

One of the best things about Christmas is being able to play on the beach at Grene and Grandstan's house. Even if it was so cold that we had to wear our fleece jackets to the beach, the sun was still shining and life was good.

Lest you think it was ALL sunshine and sand, let me tell you about Orlando's "ICE" exhibit. Yes, a place the size of a football field, kept at temperatures BELOW 9 degrees (F.) and FILLED with ice. We got to wander among beautiful ice sculptures - created by artists from Harbin, China - and slide down an amazing ice slide, and get really really cold. We thought of Grandma in Pennsylvania, and the weather in Canada...
Nice blue parkas, no? They give you one as you walk into the exhibit, for which you are immediately grateful.

2009-11-29T19:26:00.000-08:00

Because Big C. WOULD NOT LET ME REST this weekend until we had at least SOME Christmas lights on the house, I give you - Our Front Porch. Aren't we festive? He wanted to put lights on the shrubbery and the potted plants, too, but Muma just plain ran out of energy to complete the assignment. I think he's going to grow up to be one of those adults whose house causes traffic jams because of the sheer volume of Christmas lights adorning his home's facade. We all know the type. I just happen to suspect I'm raising one....

2009-11-29T19:22:00.000-08:00

Photographic Interpretation of Muma's brain after five days of no school and three days of (the children eating) too may sweets:

2009-11-29T19:16:00.000-08:00

After the Thanksgiving feasting, we headed downtown to participate in the annual "Lighting of the Christmas Lights". We managed to take a few pics with the famous downtown Christmas tree. We also indulged in the awesome cupcakes at the Cupcake Bakery downtown. 'Coz we needed a few more calories....
While it would appear to be below freezing, based upon my children's attire, all I can tell you is that living in the south has severely impaired our ability to withstand even the slightest cold. Seriously, in Pennsylvania they'd still be wearing shorts in this weather....

2009-11-29T19:08:00.000-08:00

The pictures really speak for themselves...this was our first - of two - Thanksgiving Feasts, which was held at school. The second feast was held at home, and Muma neglected her camera in favor of actually preparing a decent meal. So, we've eaten our share of turkey and pumpkin and cranberry! As for the "Native American" headdresses the urchins are sporting, let's just say I wasn't really prepared to go there......

2009-11-12T19:09:00.000-08:00

The real reason Dada has a bad back.....

2009-11-12T18:39:00.000-08:00

A few shots of the farmhouse from last weekend...as you can see, we're making progress.

The "new wing" is up and the siding is on and painted. We still need the shutters, and I'm reserving judgment on the siding color until then. (I think the siding is too light. And too similar in color to the trim color. But the thought of re-painting it is giving me hives So, here's hoping the shutters make everything look better.)

And inside, ahhh, it's beginning to look like the inside of a house ought to...which is to say, we have real walls, now!
The kitchen has walls, too. Big C. and one of the sissies inspect the handiwork of the plasterers.

This weird shot is from the back field looking toward the rear of the house. The three long things that look like we've buried super-sized snakes just under the surface are the areas where the geothermal system has been buried. Apparently, the soil on the surface is eventually supposed to "settle" down to level, but I'm thinking that we're going to have to help it along some.
That, or we can start our own Nazca Lines site in Virginia. That'll get the archaeologists' attention....

2009-11-02T11:11:00.000-08:00

Halloween Redux.

2009-11-02T10:39:00.000-08:00

Field Trip!!!
Sadly, not to France but to the local Special Ops museum (because, hey, when in Rome....)

Here, Little Miss. P. assists in a search and rescue operation.

Here, local military stand watch while my urchins run about, throttling dolls and looking for things to TOUCH. You know, the look on this mannikin's face is eerily similar to the expression on my face after spending two hours at the museum running after my punks.....coincidence? I think not.

And finally, we sat down and had some tea with these guys.

2009-11-02T10:30:00.000-08:00

So the birthday boy celebrated his birthday in style, with lots and lots of Star Wars themed pageantry and some good friends and some good food. And some cool presents. Because that's how a birthday should be, no???
Thanks to Julie for taking the pictures, as my camera battery died about 6 seconds before the guests arrived. Sigh.

2009-10-26T11:22:00.000-07:00

Trunk or Treat , thanks to Michelle and crew and their church. The kids loved the fact that they will have a chance to dress in costume THREE TIMES this October. This first one was for "Trunk or Treat" at Michelle's church (thanks for inviting us, Michelle!), followed by the Halloween party at school, followed by trick or treating on Halloween night itself. We are definitely getting our money's worth out of the costumes this year!A very handsome Anakin Skywalker escorted three lovely Princess (two Snow Whites and a Belle) to "Trunk or Treat".....

And I got to cuddle Ms.Lil, who was scrumptious in a cuddly Pooh costume.

2009-10-26T11:17:00.000-07:00

Yup. Jiu jitsu.
Take that, bad guys.

2009-10-22T13:51:00.000-07:00

We've been having a problem with gangs here in the neighborhood.

Biker gangs.

They hang around, cruise reaaaaalll slow up and down the streets, looking for trouble. And trouble always finds'em.

Some days they can be out there for hours.

I think the neighbors are starting to worry.

2009-09-28T11:17:00.000-07:00

Trouble.
If these faces aren't trouble, I don't know what is....

2009-09-13T11:33:00.000-07:00

We spent a little time at the playground on Saturday. Now that the weather is not so blisteringly hot, we're slowly getting back into the routine of the playground visit. AND, as an added bonus, I remembered to bring along the camera - the camera that was replaced for FREE because I was "duped" into buying the extended warranty a year ago ( I know - I usually pass on the extended warranty, too, but the little voices in my head that day seemed to think it was a good idea. Thank god for the little voices). So, I now have a NEW, FREE camera and it's great because it is small and compact and takes reasonably good shots of the kids when the need arises.
Thusly:
So it was hot enough that the girls' cheeks look sunburned - we worked up a "glow" at the playground!

2009-09-12T13:50:00.000-07:00

This is a photo from some time ago - Grandstand and his Granddaughters walking through the D.C. Metro station (which they thought was a fine - but slightly too dark - Disney Ride) en route to Rick's retirement ceremony. The light was bad and I couldn't get a decent shot, but I like this anyway, so here it is.

2009-09-12T13:45:00.000-07:00

See, this, THIS pretty much explains Fayetteville. They build a new bridge (at great expense and inconvenience to the general populace) and then set up weirdly ambiguous signs indicating you should jump off said bridge to the left or right - because god only knows what's over the little rise.

2009-09-11T14:54:00.000-07:00

The first day of school for the girls was actually the SECOND day of school for Big C., as preschool is a Monday/Wednesday/Friday affair, while the big boy is now in Pre-K. which occurs every single day of the week. So, Big C. went on Tuesday, and EVERYBODY went on Wednesday. If you follow.

The photo above is our drive to school and the photo below was my Very Dramatic Daughters on their first day back. Still darn cute, though.

2009-09-08T19:34:00.000-07:00

First day of school for the big man today! (The girls start tomorrow). And the girls' second day of dance classes! We're busy here. And we're cute.

2009-09-02T13:29:00.000-07:00

Because yesterday was our first day of dance class...
Many thanks to Michelle for having a camera that works and snapping this shot!!!!

2009-09-01T20:17:00.001-07:00

Behold - we have a front porch! And dentil molding!
Now we just need some trim, a real front door, a back porch, a real back door, some shutters, and we'll be good to go!!!
Right?

2009-08-18T06:22:00.000-07:00

Upper and lower level, taken from the stair landing. Just because I like this shot.
Although somebody really needs to dust that banister....

2009-08-18T05:59:00.000-07:00

The Craziest August.

August has been a crazy month for us! Lots and lots of travel to lots and lots of wonderful events....some of which I remembered to photograph...First, we enjoyed attending the Retirement Ceremony for dear Chad, up in Norfolk, VA.
Aren't they handsome?
Congratulations, Chad!

And the Change of Command Ceremony for Rich, waaaaaay out in CA.
Aren't they handsome?
Congratulations, Rich, and we're looking forward to seeing you over here on the east coast, soon!
And most importantly, the Retirement Ceremony for Rick, held up in D.C.. And which I have absolutely no good photographs of, because my sister (yes Lynn, I'm talking about you) was uh, "overly challenged" by my "fancy" point-and-shoot. Ahem.

But here he is, having one last look at the helos he loved to fly...

I'm still trying to find a photo of him in his "chokers" at Delice's wedding....The interesting thing is, this month I have seen more of "Rick in white" than in our entire relationship to date. Those Navy whites are lovely. I think he looks very handsome in them. But ya know, from a purely practical point of view, white? White is a Very Silly Color (or absence of color, I suppose) for a uniform. Seven seconds of wearing it and inevitably there's a smudge or a smear or Something. Good thing the medals distract the eye!

2009-08-17T18:39:00.000-07:00

The summer kitchen "wing" has now been officially replaced with this, the new, improved, better-tasting and longer lasting (we hope) east wing. It is definitely a little bit bigger than the old wing, and decidedly sturdier. And a new roof has already gone on top since this picture was taken. It is becoming clear that the very lovely black walnut tree that looms over the place will likely have to be cut down in the not-too-distant future, as it is just a little too close for comfort. Dammit.

Below, there's really good picture of the outline of the old summer kitchen wing, and in sharp contrast, the wall of the new wing. There's also a smidgen of the future stairwell visible in the lower right corner, and on the left - a little tiny sliver of the doorway leading into the old portion of the house.

The pretty - but doomed - black walnut, and yet another shot of the new east wing! You kinda just have to imagine a roof here, which I assure you will be there in the next set of photos I plan to take when I get up that way again - end of August, I'm hoping....
So, progress is being made. And lots of thanks and shout-outs to all of you who have expressed an interest in this crazy undertaking, and who continue to encourage me in my folly. I really love this albatross of a house, and can't wait to throw our first party!!!

2009-07-05T17:08:00.001-07:00

Darkness FINALLY arrived, and after much anticipation, we were able to experience our first Fourth of July festivities - meaning, of course, really loud music and lots of fireworks. Courtesy of Ft. Bragg. The urchins spent the entire show dancing their little butts off, and let me tell you, they can shake their groove thing. We also waved our glow-in-the-dark-wands (aka Light Sabers). An excellent time was had by all, and although we didn't get to bed until almost 11 p.m., I think they will remember their "First Fourth" for a long long time!

2009-07-05T17:02:00.000-07:00

We went to "the post" to celebrate the Fourth. Here's Dada and the Big C., waiting for sundown and a chance to watch the Big Show. Yee-haw.

2009-07-05T16:58:00.000-07:00

Fourth of July.
Well, actually, Canada Day came FIRST....

2009-07-05T16:45:00.000-07:00

A brief photographic synopsis of the progress made thus far on the farm.
Taken at various angles, this is the same side of the house. We've felled the massive shrubbery, replaced and re-pointed all the brick,and put new windows where the old windows were falling out. The exterior is really starting to look pretty again! Now, for the roof!

2009-04-16T11:29:00.000-07:00

Hey...has anybody seen the kids lately??

2009-04-16T11:25:00.000-07:00

A little beach action - the only nice day during our getaway, but we did have a chance to make sandcastles and collect seashells and thus it was a successful beach holiday!

2009-04-16T11:19:00.000-07:00

Easter! On the coast! And nothing says "Easter" quite like visiting a battleship and hanging out with a collection of military vehicles...

2009-04-07T18:17:00.000-07:00

Spring.

The children and I took a walk around our neighborhood this afternoon. And we were lucky enough to catch one of our gardening-loving neighbors, Miss. Rae, hard at work on her flowerbeds. Miss. Rae was kind enough to invite us into her backyard, and won my heart forever by allowing the children to carefully pick a few of her beautiful flowers. I never cease to be amazed at the generosity of our neighbors, and their immense kindness to our children - the advantage, I suppose, of living in an area filled with Grandparents.
We hurried home after our visit and filled a bowl with our treasures. The urchins can now identify dogwood, azalea, wisteria (a favorite) and Carolina jasmine. As we were putting the flowers in the water, Big. C. leaned into me and sighed "I love spring, Muma."

2009-04-05T19:23:00.000-07:00

The View From Up Here...

Of COURSE I went up on the scaffolding at the farm. It's just a ladder, and that's MY home we're working on, and I hadn't yet seen the roof or a close-up of the corbel detailing - so, I hollered up to the brick masons and asked if I might come aboard. Their shocked silence, followed by barely stifled laughter was not reassuring.
THREE of them rushed to hold the bottom of the ladder (note that THEY ascend the ladder with NO ONE holding it)and I fervently prayed that I would not do something really really stupid like, oh, slip off said ladder and crash into the sodden earth in front of them. Not because I was afraid of fractured ribs, or possibly death, no,no, but because I was afraid of the profound potential of pure humiliation. I gripped those ladder rungs like a crack-addled monkey climbing to heaven.

And was rewarded with quite a lovely view.
Also, pictures of my rusted-out roof. And collapsing chimneys. And deteriorating corbels.
And I wanted to share them with you.
See?

2009-04-02T13:07:00.000-07:00

How to Make a Ghost Get Gone.

Numerous people have taken great pains to point out to us that the farmhouse is probably haunted. If you're a house, and you're still standing after 150 years, I guess it would be reasonable to assume that you might harbor a spirit or two, knocking about in the cupboards or rattling the china cabinet from time to time. The standard ghost, given that this house is located in Virginia, is generally one of the Civil War variety (or, as my southern friend once took pains to correct me "the War of Northern Aggression"). Our house does indeed, have a war story, entailing a small, brief and ugly skirmish which resulted in one of the local sons being mortally wounded. Local legend has it that he wanders our property to this day. Local legend does NOT mention this ghost's particular disposition - angry, sad, vengeful, remorseful or disappointed. I'd like to think he's just a melancholy specter, and fairly benign,to boot. We've never had any indication otherwise, and I'd like to think the passing of time has mellowed him somewhat on the whole north/south issue.

But we also know that the previous owner - how shall we say? - "passed away" on the property, and if there is a crazy-assed, unhappy apparition floating around, it would be our charmingly nicknamed "Uncle Larry". Uncle Larry left a long and illustrious paper trail of his life behind for us to follow, despite the fact that oftentimes, it was a case of Too Much Information. And it is with Uncle Larry in mind that I often walk inside the farmhouse and wonder how the hell he managed to live there. I imagine Larry's fatalistic attachment to the house might very well have followed him over to the other side, if these things are at all possible, and have worried that he might, well, "hang around" if the opportunity presented itself.

But you know, as of today, I don't think he'd recognize the place. Why? We are tearing down the precious interior walls. We are embarking upon a MAJOR reworking of the upstairs interior that will in NO WAY resemble the house of old. And while part of me is admittedly a little sick about smashing history up into little pieces and pitching it (literally) out the window, another part of me is so exited to make this house into a livable, functioning, workable and wonderful HOME. For my family. And I think maybe Uncle Larry can go away now, because it's not his any longer, it's the start of the house's new chapter, and really? I promise I'll take good care of it.

2009-03-31T16:59:00.000-07:00

The latest shots of the farm house!!!
The summer kitchen has been dis-assembled, and the bricks are piled up neatly, ready to be re-used - there were some enormous stones pulled from the hearth that we will reuse!
The scaffolding has gone up on the front of the house and the mortar between all the bricks has been removed....they are even starting to put new mortar in on the upper right corner!
This is an improvement, right?
Right?

2009-03-29T17:55:00.000-07:00

Grandma is here! And Grandma brought PRESENTS!!!!! Can you guess what the presents were?
Thank you Grandma, you rock.

2009-03-24T14:25:00.000-07:00

What's the difference between living with toddlers and a giant frat party?
Hmmm, let's see, dressing up in funny outfits, check.
Gratuitous shots of drinking and revelry, check.
Waking up to find yourself wearing funny outfits, check.
And attitude, LOTS of attitude. Is there a way to write REALLY BIG CHECK???

2009-03-19T12:55:00.000-07:00

How can they be so cute one minute, and so, well, so un-cute the next? The good news is that the rain has finally gone away and we were able to play outside for the first time in awhile and that made EVERYBODY happier. We are ready for spring, now. If spring happens to be listening.

2009-03-19T12:51:00.000-07:00

On consecutive rainy days, one must come up with something, anything, to do with the toddlers. Baking is good. And Muma gets to eat whatever is not consumed by naptime, because, my friends, Muma makes the rules. Feast your eyes on Sun-nut butter cookies with M&Ms. And yes, I finished the last of them for breakfast this morning.
Yum.

2009-03-19T12:48:00.000-07:00

So, which board do you think is the one we just replaced on the back porch?
Hmmmm?
Having trouble?

File this under "Sounds Like a Good Idea, but maybe NOT...."

2009-03-08T19:53:00.000-07:00

Sure, he looks cute with a blue spoon in his mouth.....

But he has ALL SORTS of tricks up his, urmmm, "sleeve"....ewwwwww....

2009-03-08T19:47:00.001-07:00

Girls and Muma, enjoying a little early spring weather. Everyone feels better when they get a chance to play outside!

2009-03-01T11:49:00.000-08:00

The painters are here to fix the brilliant mistakes of the last painters (who did their evil deeds prior to our purchase of this house) who cleverly painted LATEX over OIL BASED paint. For those of you who didn't know - BAD IDEA.

All the latex peels up and falls off. Generally in really hard to reach places, because that is some sort of painterly rule, isn't it?

In a demonstration of just HOW hard these places are to reach, yes, that's our painter, and yes, he DOES have the tallest ladder money can buy. And yes, that ladder can ONLY reach the top of our house if he - ohmigod - puts the ladder on the ROOF of his van.

I'm pretty sure this isn't OSHA approved.

2009-03-01T11:43:00.000-08:00

Hair Bows and Cowboy Boots....

2009-02-23T12:49:00.000-08:00

Two Princesses, Aunt Amy's parlor.

2009-02-23T12:33:00.001-08:00

So the farm came with numerous "bonus features" not unlike those extra tracks one gets on Disney DVDs, like ballroom dance lessons on Cinderella's hit classic.

Only our bonus features included a lovely 1960s trailer! And a camper! And the entire contents of the trailer! Which I won't get into here....

And now, where the trailer used to be....I give you......NOTHING BUT TREES!!!!!

2009-02-23T12:26:00.000-08:00

Yes, that's our new culvert. Which will only make your heart swell with pride if you could see the old culvert. Which, by virtue of the fact that it was old, ugly and not functioning, I neglected to photograph. I CAN tell you that every time you drove over the old culvert, you'd experience a wee surge of adrenaline, because you were never really sure if you would be crossing the creek, or sliding directly into it.
Sweet.

2009-02-23T12:23:00.000-08:00

The new improved entrance from the driveway to the road. Now that we have located it a few yards south of the old entrance, visibility is vastly improved, and the likelihood of being run over by a speeding pickup truck is at least slightly reduced.

2009-02-23T11:53:00.000-08:00

So, here are the latest shots of our new, improved driveway. Of course, it was snowing while I was there and was incredibly cold, so all the pics look grey and grim and, well, chilly, for a reason!!
The shots start at the entrance and work their way toward the house.
For the next entry, I will include a few "close-ups".

2009-02-15T18:49:00.000-08:00

A Birthday Day.
Three. Our girls are now three years old.
The morning hours were almost Christmas-like, as they got up early and full of excitement and wanted to immediately open the gifts that had been accumulating from family. There were squeals of delight and the shredding of wrapping paper and the modeling of dresses for the camera. Big C. was a good sport about most of it - helped tremendously by the fact that a few of the presents also happened to be for him.

Later in the afternoon we were joined by friends for lunch and cupcakes and, as demonstrated here, a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday to You", led by the crazy lady in the bright shirt. Ahem.

While it looks from this photo as though the meal consisted solely of M&Ms, cupcakes and chocolate, we actually DID manage to eat a few healthy things, too...like, uh, marshmallow salad and, um, ham....

Can't believe they are THREE already. Happy Birthday Cutie Pies! You are absolutely wonderful!!!

2009-02-13T11:48:00.000-08:00

News of the Arcane.
We've been inundated with machinery of late. Excavators and bulldozers and dump trucks and, as the mother of a toddler-boy, I can tell you the difference between a backhoe, a front-end loader and an excavator without batting an eye. It's this kind of arcane knowledge that keeps my wits sharp, I'm sure.
Oh? And please don't ask me to explain the Nemo outfit. It was chilly out so little Q. decided this would be a more logical choice of apparel than, say, a cardigan.

The local pond is being dredged, which has provided us with a series of late afternoons of entertainment. The smell, not so good, but the sights are, apparently, riveting.
Also, this gives the brood the opportunity to collect stones. For their stone-and-stick collection which is slowly building up in our suburban front yard. A vision I'm sure the neighbors appreciate. Aherm.

2009-02-13T11:22:00.000-08:00

This looks like trouble, doesn't it?

Because it IS, my friends, believe me it IS....

2009-02-13T10:02:00.000-08:00

Moderne Art
So, Big C. calls me into his room and shows me this:

"The big one is you, Muma, and the little one is me. Do you like it?"

Yes, sweetie, it's lovely.

2009-02-09T16:26:00.000-08:00

Baby, It's Cold Outside....

2009-02-09T11:39:00.001-08:00

Have you been paying attention? Because here is the last picture of last week's beginning of the beginning of the work on the farm...Ha. And if you actually followed that, I'm Very Impressed.

This is the installation of the drainfield. Meaning, we will be able to do crazy things like flush a toilet, wash clothes and even - gasp - bathe, and all our crappy water (umm, literally) will now have somewhere legally and environmentally friendly to go. Oh, and if you were wondering what our dear deceased previous owner did to, um, treat his erm, "waste water"? There's a trench covered with plywood over by the trailer. I kid you not.
Maybe we should plant roses over there.....