Michael and Jamin's Arctic Adventure

 

This is the proof of life photo Jamin sent me. He and Michael took a trip to Barrow recently. Jamin takes trips every quarter and Michael was happy to accompany him on this one.  There was talk of finding a polar bear. 

The goal of the trip was to go to the edge of the arctic and step into the arctic sea...which they did. I've not heard many stories just yet - but I will. 

I'm quite sure Michael took lots of pictures and will share them at some point. Michael arrived home at 8:30 p.m. and Jamin flew on to Florida....now there's a change of scenery. 

I will stop complaining about $4 a gallon. LOL  Do you see that? $12.99 a gal. 

About that polar bear...

I'm grateful they were able to take this trip together and I'm thankful to have Michael home. Life is so much easier and fuller when he's home. LOL 

All photos by Jamin. 

A Day at Home

The morning began with Olivia. Stacia had school and Allie was sleeping - poor Liv was left with me to entertain her. She introduced me to a Disney show...and we made banana muffins. We also had a good talk about the recent changes in her life. She is attending a new school in the new town they moved too. She told me she likes the school. She had discovered today a friend from school goes to her church - always a great connection.  It was good to hear she is liking the new school. We've been praying for a smooth transition for her. 

Stacia spreads out her books and gets it done! LOL  The challenge this year is to find a quiet place to work on school in the mornings. Allie is usually sleeping when Stacia starts the day (because she works late at night several nights a week). GG has taken to loud discussions and singing in the a.m.  My noise cancelling headphones work nicely. I gave them to her right after this picture was taken. LOL 

Stacia finished school. CyRi arrived to visit for a bit, pick up Livie and head to the state fair.  The girls and I visited and ran a couple of errands. 

I took Allie to work. 

I noted the chicks, which are now pullets, were pecking at the tiny new chick. I couldn't find all the things for the brooder but set our new chick in the other side of the rabbit hutch, caught the broody hen and put her back to work. LOL  We've raised a chick by hand before, but if she will do the job, it's much easier to integrate the new chick to the flock. 

I picked veggies for dinner...made dinner, started a batch of chicken broth, and waited for Michael to come home. 

Stacia and I DID begin the Monk series again...it's been 5 years since we watched it. I think it's o.k. Watching MONK puts me instantly back to our days of living in the RV.  LOL 

Michael arrived home. GG went to bed.  I waited up for Allie. 

Three eggs tonight - we suspect 1 from Golda (her eggs are bigger and white), we also got a green egg and another BIG brown egg. I am guessing we have 3 of the pullets laying. We are dreaming of being overrun by eggs once again. Last time we had this many hens we sold eggs.

More yellow is showing up in the yard...I think fall is here....and if I refuse to admit it much longer I may miss it altogether. LOL 

Surprise in the Chicken Coop

We've had a hen sitting in a nesting box for weeks. First, we thought she was dying as she had been ill and picked on. Then we thought she was avoiding the rooster. We left her alone. Tonight, when I went to check for eggs the box was empty and there was a tiny brown egg in the box. Our new chicks have begun laying a week early! YES. I look forward to swimming in eggs again. 

I was surprised to find the hen sitting on the floor of the coop. She moved to grab some food and look what I saw! She HATCHED A CHICK. I sat and watched; she is doing a terrific job at being a mommy. This obviously did not hatch from one of her eggs. My guess is maybe it's one of Golda's eggs...Godla has been a great hen for 4 years. I hope it is not a rooster. 

It took Stacia, Livie and I 30 minutes to get them all inside this evening. They ran us ragged. One even flew out of the coop. We finally got Alex. He's much less intimidated by them than we are. 

Our Day

We had a guest preacher today at church. He spoke on the importance of being "committed to Koinonia" - committing to community, following through with fellowship. It was full of Scripture, which I look forward to exploring further this week.  Stacia and Allie liked the specific steps he gave for intentional fellowship. He talked about how we need to remember the battle belongs to the Lord, but we are in it together. I have been processing what it means to allow others to be in the battle with us....it requires vulnerability. Just processing. I thought it FUN that this was a strong sermon on community given by an INTROVERT. Often, when I talk about this topic, I'm brushed off because I'm an extrovert. Good to hear his thoughts. 

Josiah and Carrie are celebrating ONE YEAR of marriage, and they brought Liv out to celebrate with us. We love sleep overs with Olivia. She was able to have lunch and visit with Allie before Allie went in for work.  The girls were jumping on the trampoline when they were foiled by rain. 

They switched to standing on the deck and throwing the ball for Millie. Retrieving the ball meant a lot of running across the yard and up and down stairs for Millie. We like to tire her out. 

Go get it, Millie

They set up a sleeping spot for Liv next and then baked some wildly sprinkled cookies.  We settled in to watch Frozen 2.  GG woke up. I made a quick Sunday dinner. We moved on to Apples to Apples. Whatever did we do around here before Nolan bought this game for Stacia?  Nolan made it home after 10 hours of work. He played a game with us and then went to take a nap as he expects to get called back in to work. 

Livie, Stacia, Nolan 

It's pretty funny how many words match up for Baby Boomers or Millennials. LOL 

The girls have settled down for bed. GG is in bed and I'm going to read for a few hours. Good night. 

FRIDAY!!!! YES.

I found myself sitting in the back corner where I sat with Nicole two weeks ago, with a yummy bowl of Hungarian mushroom soup. This time we celebrated a successful first week...survival...the first week for Arielle to mommy two 18 month olds and a 3 yo, the first week for Allie to do college classes, and the first week of Stacia's senior year.  She submitted her first Lit response paper on Father Brown and said it felt good to be back at it. 

We enjoyed our soup and split a goodie, or two.  We checked out a gym and a novelty store. Then we came home to our various projects and Benny and Arielle headed home. 

I pulled all the beans today...see that meager crop? This isn't our best gardening year. LOL I pulled a couple of cucumber vines. We've got lots of cucumbers to go....and look at that white Dragon Egg cucumber. 

This dragon egg is big enough to be a squash. LOL Speaking of squash we have a good sized kabocha squash. I'm trying to decide how long to leave it...long enough to mature but early enough to avoid the slugs. 

It was a relaxing afternoon. We decided to have a fire after dinner. Allie got called in to work at dinner....fair time...everyone needs fast food.  I drove her in, then got home and got dad out back and just as we got everyone OUT there it began to rain. We were not to be deterred. I gave Dad an umbrella and told him to enjoy the fire. ::snort:: 

We snacked on carrots, while we sat around the fire, under the umbrellas. 

Allie called and I ran to pick her up. She picked up 3 extra hours. We sat around and enjoyed hot drinks. 

It's good to have the week wind down. And each week will get a bit easier until we all feel a new normal. LOL 

No Rain Today!

We left early this a.m. for Bible study. It wasn't raining when we got home so I spent time outside while both girls worked on school. 

Michael bought me the greatest gift - my own 12 in, battery powered chainsaw...today he taught me how to use it. I plan to get out and do more...today was full. 

I couldn't resist spending time in the garden. So.much.rain. Wow - lots of slugs...but the Dahlia's are great. Did I mention before I didn't realize they were perennial and planted them right in the middle of a garden bed? I planted them as seeds and figure I can try to move them in a bit or just pull them and plant more. LOL  

Dahlias and Brussel Sprouts 

Will they have enough time to produce a few meals? 

Brussel Sprouts

More peas and squash. Michael isn't impressed with these peas...he wants sweeter, sweet peas. I'll have to do some research. I let them get too big but even the tiny ones aren't as sweet as the ones he remembers. 

I pulled the pea vines. The chickens loved it! 

The pumpkins are growing...but I'm just not sure they'll have time to mature...The early variety didn't do a THING...these Connecticut ones are doing better. 

Every bit counts....in the freezer for stir fries and soups....

Allie spent the afternoon at the fair and met us at Life group. 

Stacia and I prepped our meal offering for Life group me and watched a couple of episodes of, "When Calls the Heart." 

Life group met tonight. I never got a shot of the other side of the room. humph!

 

Krista, the gal under the tv, proved how considerate of a friend she is when she left me sleeping in the parking lot last night. I didn't even know she'd come by the car. I sure was tired. LOL 

Nolan spent the night with Grandpa. He was happily in bed by the time we got home. 

Another Day

The highlight of the day? 

Maybe Dad's doctor appointment? They wanted to check the blood pressure readings we've been taking and discuss the results of Dad's echocardiogram. 

In a nutshell - they didn't BELIEVE some of our readings. I was glad Michael was there to back me up. I KNOW we take 3 readings of the odd ones and choose the best to record.  The thought is he'd be dead if the readings we get were accurate...my thought being...that's what I've been TELLING YOU since May! They are high and they are all over the board.  BTW, this is with a new blood pressure monitor they ordered less than 2 years ago. I think that dad's numbers are simply CRAZY.  HOWEVER, they are "ok" most of the time, as we juggle all the meds to keep them o.k. 

We didn't learn anything new.  Dad's physical heart is simply not his best feature. 

I had just enough time to make Salmon chowder when we got home. Stacia made biscuits. I was surprised when EVERYONE came up for dinner. That doesn't happen often at all. Unexpected time off...always exciting. 

We headed to church for youth. I grabbed a nap in the car. It was great. 

That's our wild and wonderful day.