Organized or Anal??

After thinking for several years that I should put my pile of 842 recipe clippings in some sort of order (and no, the random stack of them stuffed in the corner behind my blender does not, in any way, count as order), I finally got on the ball today:

Are you proud of me, S?

By the way, this does not mean that I will ever, in my lifetime, get around to making any of these recipes, but I'm sure I'll find some more to cut out and file away.

My intentions are very good...

M.I.A.

Things went well for us this morning.  L got her violin practice and Math done.  We took a break after that to take the kitten to the vet for shots.  (Bad news:  she still has worms, good news:  don't have to take her back until it's time to spay at 5-6 months.)

On our return home, L and I had our lunch, read together and planned dinner.  When we tried to get back on to the Online School, however, it was down.  OK, no problem - we did a few things we could manage off line.

The time came to go pick up Jenna at our friends' house.  We waited on the front porch with them and a neighbor, and waited, and waited...Finally the big yellow bus arrived.  My friends' boys hopped off and worriedly announced "J got on the wrong bus!"  Oh boy.  Now what?

I called the school, and notified them.  After several minutes, they were able to track her down.  I was told that the bus would return to school and I could pick her up there.  L and I drove to the school and waited, and waited, and waited...at last a bus pulled up and J stepped down.  It was about 4:30. 

It ends up that the school disregarded the note I sent this morning regarding afternoon busing (which they TOLD me to send), and sent her on the bus to our house.  I wish I would have known to just go home and get her there!

Ends up we had Wendy's for dinner after soccer practice in the mist.

All's well that ends well though.  J had a WONDERFUL first day of school, and was not rattled about her long bus ride.  She spent most of the trip chatting with her friend who lives up the road, while L and I, and several others, were a bit panicked back in town.  L is now determined to go to Public School next year, so that she can be in the same school as J.

We'll cross that road when we get to it!

First Day

Miss J is off to Public School for the first time this morning.  After spending almost every day of the past 9 1/2 years with her, this is a BIG change for both of us!  She is excited and did not appear at all nervous.  This afternoon will be another first:  riding the school bus to my friend's house for me to pick her up.

I am feeling a bit teary, but am pushing on.  L has Cyber School to begin today, the kitten has a Vet appointment for shots, Soccer practice for both girls this evening, plus my monthly Library Board meeting.  Whew!  What a day!

We had a pleasant weekend.  My parents invited us for dinner on Saturday night.  Afterwards, the girls and my Mom presented a short play entitled "The First Strawberries".  They had made costumes, props, and scenery, and even memorized their lines!  We had shortcake with berries for dessert after the entertainment.

On Sunday, we did some chicken herding.  We needed to clean out under the pullets pen, so while things were moved, we thought we'd put the pullets in the area with the larger house.  Easier said then done, particularly when you are dealing with 44 birds with brains the size of a pea.  We ended up with one casualty...the tiniest, sickly barred rock pullet didn't recover from the stress of moving day.  I wasn't sure if it would have been healthy to eat her anyway.

Room to Roost!

So this morning, we have all our ducks (chickens?) in a row, and are off to a good start:  J off to school with JP, 20-some minutes on the elliptical, then L up and at it.  She is presently checking for eggs, then we will start her school work!

Here we go...

Home Town Hero

Imagine our surprise this summer to discover that someone from our little town was London bound to participate in the Olympics.  Unfortunately, his bronze medal winning wrestling match was not televised, but I was able to watch it on line.

Coleman Scott returned to the Burg today to a large crowd of cheering fans in front of the courthouse down town.  My girls were SO excited to see him...a REAL Olympic medal winner!  That's a nice thing about living in a small town, getting to meet the celebrities (of which there are not many!)

So, we met Coleman Scott, then went grocery shopping and on to soccer practice.  Just another day...

By the way, L told me that she touched his medal with her head.  "How did it feel?" I asked.

"Hard," she replied.

Idlewild 2012

Just some pics from our annual Idlewild trip.  To see all of the pictures of the girls sitting on the Magic Carpet in Story Book Forest through the years, click here.

JP was able to get the day off at the last minute, so we had a nice family outing together.

Update

We are trying to fit everything in this final week before school starts.  L is supposed to start after Labor Day, but I think I will start her school next week when J returns to school.  It will give us more wiggle room later in the year.

Last week we did our back to school shopping, and took a friend to the pool.  The girls also had their first 2 soccer practices.

Saturday, I spent most of the day canning:  7 quarts of green beans from the garden, 7 pints of dilly beans, and 4 pints of pumpkin (also from the garden.)

On Sunday, we all piled in the van and drove through the rolling hills and farmland to Meadowcroft, where the girls tried their hand at throwing the Atlatl...

...and learned about Reading, Writing, and 'Rithmatic in the one room schoolhouse.

JP and I were awed by the oldest known site of human inhabitation in North America at the Rockshelter, where artifacts have been found with carbon dating going back 16,000 years ago!  (The girls got a little bit bored there, and wished they could have climbed around on the rocks instead!)

This week, we are visiting the Elementary School for a tour and orientation, and taking our annual trip to Idlewild.

After that, it's back to school.  We received a letter from J's teacher at the end of last week, and she sounds very kind and energetic.  I still have not heard from L's cyber-teacher, so hopefully we hear this week whether or not we can forge ahead as planned.

This will be a good year.

Proof

I have been anticipating the moment that all of these pullets, who have been putting  away about 50 pounds of chick feed weekly, start laying in order to begin paying us back!  On Thursday, J found a particularly small egg.  Yesterday, we found another one, AND we got 8 eggs altogether.  That means that not only did each of the old biddies lay an egg, the Golden Comet pullets are now starting to lay as well.

The egg in the center is our "normal" large egg, the 2 on the outside are from the pullets

Since the older pullets are laying, that explains why Miney the rooster hopped the fence to be with them.  We have visual proof that we are now getting fertilized eggs.

I believe that the Barred Rock pullets are about 3-4 weeks younger, so by next month we should be hauling in the eggs by the dozens.

It also means that butchering day is imminent.