TGIF

TGIF

TGIF

And thank goodness, I actually got out of work on time today….which is suprisingly difficult to do!

I have a story about my chickens.

A couple weeks ago, I was sitting on the bench down by the chicken yard admiring my beasties. (Ummm….yup, we have a loverly bench down there for chicken watching.) One of them grabbed a largish wiggling something from just outside the fence and pulled it in and ran around with it and then dropped it.  I was very curious to see what it was. I had seen lots of those wee baby toads around, so I thought maybe it was one of those. 

By the time I got in the chicken yard, another chicken had picked it up and run around the yard with it hanging from her mouth as all the other chickens chased her.  She accidentally flung it back outside the fence. (Chickens are so not smart!). 

I found the critter…Know what it was? A big, fat, pinky-sized caterpillar….in an amazing shade of red! I had never seen such the creature before, so I brought it up to the house to save for Nature Boy to see when he got home from school.  And of course, I took pictures!

Aren’t those way cool eye spots?

It’s like the caterpillar is looking right at you!

I looked it up, it appeared to be a kind of swallowtail caterpillar. And it is lucky as it appeared to be undamaged despite some trips around the yard in a couple of chicken’s mouths!

I have to say, sometimes nature is just the coolest thing!

$942

That’s how much we spent at the mechanic yesterday having some routine maintenance (timing belt, timing belt tensioner and water pump replaced to the tune of $600+) and then some odd fix-it jobs (new blower motor, brake work and I believe something else) done on dh’s car.

Ouch.

But my mechanic promised me in the spring that if I take care of that car, it’ll roll two hundred thousand miles for me.  So, it is my vested goal to take care of it and see 200,000 on the odometer.  Mind you, dh actually is driving that car now, so he may be the one to see it…However, we have YEARS before we get there…So, don’t be sitting on the edge of your seat in suspense!

So…fall is here. It kinda snuck up the past week or so. The leaves are beginning to turn, the flowers are pretty much gone by…..I guess I’d better pull my glads soon so they don’t freeze and die this winter.  My last couple of stems made me some gorgeous cutting stems!

The best thing about this bunch of bulbs was that I was given them by a friend….So, I had no idea what the flowers would look like.  It looks like it was a colorful assortment and has been so fun to see the color of the bud and then wait to see what the actual blossom would look like.

Because I promised:

The Mason Dixon kimono.  Yellow peaches and cream cotton. Size 4 needles. It’s a bit more than half done here.

I made it to work today.  Now, it feels like I am fighting off Nature Boy’s cold. I tell ya, it’s going to be a looong week.

Well, to answer yesterday’s question…I did not fare so well on the mind over matter of trying to stay healthy.

I woke up at 3:30 this morning and couldn’t fall back asleep.  After I laid there a while, I realized that I couldn’t fall asleep because I had an awful stomach ache. Also, my head was pounding and every time I rolled over, the room was spinning. I spent the next few hours in stomach misery.  At 6:30, I called in sick to work, had some ginger ale and then was back in bed by 7:30 and slept for another couple of hours.

Today has just been a lay-low kind of day.  My stomach feels a little bit better, my head does too with some Tylenol.  I still feel a bit dizzy/woozy though and achy all over. I laid down for a while around noontime and now am back up.  I feel a little bit less dizzy sitting up than laying down.

And if that isn’t all bad enough….Nature Boy is home sick today too.  He has his awful cold and cough….We knew last night that he’d be staying home today!

And….(Yes, more!)….Dh stayed home to take care of us (I wasn’t in any shape to be tending NB this morning) and now he is commenting that he has a scratchy throat and feels a bit woozy.

I guess we should hang a big ol’ quarantine sign on the door!

How’s your Monday?

If I steadfastly refuse to get sick, do you think I will stay healthy?

Nature Boy spiked a bit of a fever last night, but has seemed okay today.  I am feeling a bit like I am getting sick and I am not happy about it.  Hopefully, I can rally and dodge getting as sick as Nature Boy.

Today was super busy…Not the way I like to spend my Sunday and luckily, not a typical Sunday.  However, we were at UU for hours today!  I have signed up to be a teacher in the preschool class during the service.  I got there extra early to get ready today.  Then we had to stay after the service for a parent meeting about Nature Boy’s religious education class.  The parent meeting was 2 hours, so we were out of our house from 10-3! Yikes!

I am going to really enjoy working with the preschoolers. I do so much enjoy working with the littler kids and I didn’t realize until today how much I have actually missed it.

Anyway, today with the preschool felt a smidge rough, but now that I have a better sense of the kids, the space and the rhythm of the time, I think it will go better in the future.  Basically, the kids are pretty young (way more three year olds than four year olds) and will need lots of time for hands-on busy activities and wiggling. 

So far, I am the only teacher. They try to have a system of three teachers with each rotating who is leading, who is helping and who has a Sunday off.  I hope they get another teacher so I can share some of the work, but honestly, I don’t mind being the lead teacher for now.  Like I said, I love the age so, I am going to have a good time.

Hey, I have a cool picture I took a while ago that I don’t think I ever posted. It is NB with a grasshopper that he found.

The best part is that NB was wearing his cool praying mantis shirt and it sort of looks like a reflection of the grasshopper.

In other news…..Brace yourself folks, I have an announcement to make: I am steadily working on a knitting project.  It is an easy knit, so it is going fast.  I am making the kimono baby sweater from Mason Dixon Knitting for one of my co-workers.  I am using a soft yellow colored cotton and I like the way it is coming out. I’ll get a picture of it for tomorrow.

Speaking of which….did you notice? Two blogs in a row? I tell you…I’m on a roll!

Sometimes when life hands you a sick day….You take it!

We have been running out straight here for 3 weeks.  It has been busy with me at the new job (so much to learn!), Nature Boy back at school, UU starting back up…..It’s been hectic and stressful.  I had on my list a zillion things to do this weekend starting first thing this morning.

But then life intervened.  I have not been feeling great the past few days.  I know it is stress and…well, there was a nasty bug going around the office (I’d say 4 or 5 people have been sick).  Last night, I could barely function and I emailed and canceled my morning commitment. (Which is a bummer because it was getting together with a friend, but I just couldn’t do it….Luckily, she was understanding.)

I still had a list of things I wanted and needed to do, but Nature Boy woke up this morning sick.  He has brewed a full-fledged nasty, miserable cold.  He is so sick, he opted out of his morning D&D game….For those of you who know my child, this means he is REALLY sick!

So, all my busy plans for today have come to a screeching halt.  We are hanging around the house in PJs and drinking tea and hot chocolate and chicken noodle soup.  It is just the kind of day I need!  Heck, maybe I will be motivated to get out my knitting….I can’t even remember the last time I knit.

So, while I am never happy when my child is sick…I think I will take the opportunity to just hang out around the house and have some quiet time.  My batteries sure can use some recharging.

I post about how I am planning on still blogging and then I don’t actually blog!

So….

Work is going well.  I am enjoying all the different people I work with.  Each person presents his or her own flavor and challenge to the treatments and I enjoy the variety. 

Work also keeps me hopping.  My schedule is getting fuller and fuller and I am starting to realize exactly how much paperwork and such stuff needs doing as well as treating the patients.  It is quite a bit…Not unmanageable, but because it is new to me, everything takes longer.  I look forward to things being a bit more “old hat.”  Mind you, I expect that will take a couple of months….

I find it very hard to get out of work on time each day.  There is always so much to do and I am so, so busy! I always seem to be caught up in some last bit of paperwork, or training or some such thing. I think there is an art to time management…And I don’t think I have it yet!

Mornings are getting darker too. I try to leave the house promptly at 6:15.  My last chore before I leave is to let out the chickens and then I dress and leave for work.  I usually hit the coop around 6.  This was fine two weeks ago when I started my job, but now, the sun isn’t over the mountain yet at 6 and it feels pretty dark!  Before too long, I won’t even be able to call it dawn!  I guess in a couple of weeks I am going to have to hand off the morning chicken chores!

At least I do get so see the first bits of the sunrise each day!

So, I spent some time this morning writing about how hard it is for me to fit blogging in in the morning and how I really enjoy blogging and miss it and how I have heard that people miss my blogging.

And Xanga ate it.

Since my morning was already flying by and I have little to no wiggle room in my morning schedule, I again ended up blogless. (Well, until now.)

And now, I am tired and Nature Boy will be home any minute, so blogging isn’t really going to occur. 

But here’s a heads up:  I do plan on continuing to blog.  The dust is starting to settle some here from back to school and back to work. <phew>

K…but that’s all for now…

Yes. I am still alive. I just haven’t had much to say….Some weeks are like that.

We have been having the most amazing weather this long weekend….It is a real treat!

I have been doing some fiddly things on the chicken coop…For instance, installing latches on the back doors so I can use them.  Up til today, they had simply been screwed shut with plans for complex latches (dh’s plans!).  I just bit the bullet and bought some of the safety hook and eye latches, they’ll do for now. And if dh ever gets around to his fancy plan, he can surely take off the simple latches and upgrade.

Oh…speaking of chickens (I guess I’ll need to get out there with the camera) we have two new chickens.  My parents had a couple from their batch they wanted to get rid of and we happily took them.  They are Rhode Island Reds.  They are the same age as ours, actually when Nature Boy and I picked up our chicks, we picked up my parents’ too and so we had previously “met” these chickens. 

They are reworking the pecking order.  Interestingly, our chickens are timid and these two chickens have quickly made their way to top of the pecking order. Yesterday, there was a fair bit of bullying and jostling, but today not so much.  My chickens just steer way clear of the newbees! Actually, right now, it is kind of like we have two flocks, on of the two RI Reds and one of our six wyandottes…But they’ll integrate in a week or so.

Nature Boy is happy though, because the Reds are much more docile and less skittish.  He can go right in and grab one for a snuggle as they are so tame.  I don’t quite understand why ours aren’t that way as we handled them plenty…It may just plain boil down to breed temperament differences.

K….I gotta get some cleaning done before the week starts up again. I just wanted to pop in for roll call….Just in case anyone was missing me!

K…I gotta admit it…I am dragging.  It’s been a busy week full of new schedules, new routines….And I am tired!

I am glad it is Thursday as I am ready for the weekend and a chance to catch my breath! I just need to make it through today and tomorrow!

Below is a slide show of our chickens.  The pictures aren’t great….Evidently chickens can be tricky to photograph! They don’t stand still and when they move, it is often sudden and fast.

One thing I was hoping you’d notice is that the chickens are starting to lose their baby feathers and get their adult feathers.  There are a couple of chickens sporting white chest feathers edged with black.  That’s the lacing look of the adult birds.  The other birds mostly have reversed coloring which is their baby feathers.

Speaking of birds, I must go let them out for the day. 

Enjoy the slideshow!!!!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow