Cementing Their Arrival

We are hereby officially granted permission via city-sealed permit to FARM! Well, specifically to farm chickens, but I think this means we are farmers now. Probably. For sure.

One thing the Chicken Boss noticed during inspection was our wild yard--hmm, coyote? fox? raccoon? Yup. "You're going to need to dig a trench . . ."

A what?

He went on to explain the process of building a cement moat around our coop and how to fortify the diggable spaces with a double set of boards. Whew! Thankfully, we had all the materials still available--including the 150 lbs of concrete the kids and I spent pouring on a 99 degree day. Whew, again!

Brennen took charge of the power tools--he pulled all the wood screws from the former garden boxes. Next, he awaited the boards to be dropped into the cement trenches, where he then reused the screws to secure the boards to the base of the coop.



Our next line of defense was double wiring as many coop sides as we could reach (and our supply of leftover chicken wire could cover). We bent the chicken wire over the top cemented board, locked another board in place on top of it, and boom--fortified coop!

Graysen took care of the trenching inside the back wall of the coop, because we cannot reach it given the near proximity of the barn. However, this area the Chicken Man suggested would be our most vulnerable spot for invaders. They could easily hide under the barn, sneak across the narrow gap, dig into the coop and all would be lost (and apparently disgusting). We further attempted to halt this possibility by screwing a gigantic board to the back base of the barn blocking the open section to at least ground level. I'll admit--the inspector fellow had me looking at our job with a new eye. We mostly intended to keep chickens in and owls out. I hadn't thought much about creatures that dig.












At the last minute, I decided we should shore up this section leading from the garden into the coop as well. I could already see where the dirt was eroding under the fence and since our garden is open air, I'm sure the sneakier of animals would have no trouble getting into this space to dig. And here I was worried about deer and rabbits . . .

Because our beans are growing so nicely, we decided to use a section of chicken wire as a support structure to help them climb. As soon as we find some of the missing landscape pins, we will have it all complete! We hope. Buck hasn't been home during daylight hours yet to see our work, there may be tweaks or additions to come. However, we felt it was a good afternoon's work and we are now one more (unknown) step closer to getting our birds!

Survival Skills

Before we left for our hunting weekend, our neighbor invited us over to her personal farmer's market to collect some freshly grown produce. This resulted in a giant bag of apples and a box of tomatoes. Knowing this also meant fruit flies while we were away, Caelan set up a vinegar trap that kept the critters under control.

When we returned, she took on the task of doing something with all those apples. She decided on apple butter. Brennen went to work peeling apples and soon Caelan had the whole thing simmering in the crock pot for 12 hours.



Also, before we left, we put in an order to the online confusion that is Amazon. We used to never have any problems--lately it's been challenging to say the least. B wanted to use his karate gift card, of course, so we worked that into our order. He selected a book on survival skills--which arrived hardcover, and "Exactly what I wanted!!" He also ordered a leather dagger/sword holder that can hang from his belt. Both items were better than expected and he's a happy kid!

The crazy thing is, I selected the 5-8 day free shipping and it gave me delivery dates SEVEN weeks in the future. WEEKS! I was not pleased with this timeline (obviously), so (after a significant amount of searching) I emailed the 'zon my concerns. They handled it well and upgraded my shipping to next day (for free). Well, this meant that everything would arrive while we were not home--and since we'd decided not to hold our mail for two post office days, these packages would pile up on our doorstep. Neighbors to the rescue! They already planned to keep an eye on the critters we didn't bring or board, so they were able to get our boxes brought in the house. (There ended up being an additional snafu with an undergarment item that was supposed to be new, which arrived in the wrong size, style, and color with black pilling on the sides from a previous wear--disgusting!!!! There were no tags or anything . . . yuck! It has since been returned and replaced with the correct item).

Anywho--the house smelled great with all that cinnamon and apple cooking all the livelong day. The next morning, C got out the Ninja and pureed the cooled concoction into apple butter bliss. But you can't have apple butter without something to put it on! So, C baked a loaf of bread from scratch--she didn't even use a bread machine (which is how I roll ;) Yum!

Cabin Day Three

Though the hunters were back at it around 5 a.m. on day three, we still at the cabin collectively awoke at the much more reasonable hour of  7 a.m. Since Gabby had completed her hunt, she stayed behind to continue the guitar lessons, while Graysen and Brennen joined the bean field crew at the timber's edge. We ended up scrapping our breakfast plans, and awaited the arrival of noodles at noon. Hooray for noodles!!







Before the morning was through, my brother shot his first deer, too! Caelan had a "monster" in her sights, but got to shaking so badly in excitement that she missed. Her reload popped out of the gun, so the big guy got away. Though she was surely disappointed, the skinning crew already had TWO deer to take care of that morning. My brother took baby M out to see how things were coming along (okay, really he was letting mama have a few hours to catch up on her sleep between feedings :) I'm told my cousin A came out to help with the deer processing . . . in his church clothes. He was still wearing them later in the day, so he must have been successful in keeping himself clean during what I would think is a very messy task!

Throughout the morning, my determined young nephew was "hunting deer" too. He set a trap--which something broke all apart--he had his hunting gear set up in the tent, and demonstrated his smart packing skills by emptying the contents of his backpack in the living room. "I have this game in case I get bored," he said, amazing me by unloading a game we'd brought with about a hundred tiny pieces, lol! (Caelan counted when we got home and astonishingly, given all the locations this multi-pieced game was played, we made it home with ALL the pieces, including the tiny single block I found when sweeping beneath the upstairs couches on cleaning day :) My nephew also had to make some tough choices in what he could bring along on his hunt . . . a pile of underwear appeared on the edge of the couch. "I have some, but I won't need this many." I had to laugh. I told him, "You sound like your Uncle Buck. We were packing in our room at home, and he said, 'Okay, I've got everything.' I looked over his piles and said, 'Well, you might want to bring some underpants.'" Haha :)

For hours, my nephew stalked the perimeter of the cabin with a big stick and a switch blade comb from my boys. He said he saw deer prints and lots of other sign that the deer were nearby. And when the hunting crew returned from the farm, he and his sister naturally assumed they were meant to be in the hunting picture as well (where is my crying laughing face emoji on this keyboard? :)








Next year, B will be old enough to officially join the hunt. Whew! I better start saving up for all those tags now ;) I'm told our boys were extra good at spotting deer, sometimes in their excitement, deer that weren't even there! That's okay though, the ones that were grazing around are in a dire situation next year, for sure :)

So, you can see that our family likes noodles by the picture of Aunt C's roaster full of them below. Wow, noodles! And would you believe there was only enough left for four people to have lunch off of them the next day?

I can't remember if it was lunch or dinner on this day, but I got an hour-long lesson on chicken tending from my 9-year-old cousin. That girl knows her stuff! I confirmed several questions I had about things I'd learned from other people, and she gave me great tips on things I hadn't realized. Chickens don't like to get wet, so fill their water dish outside of their coop. Don't let too many eggs pile up or the chickens get mad. They need pea gravel to help them digest their food. Make sure you don't wash the eggs 'til you are ready to use them, and then give the egg shells back to the chickens to build up strong shells for the next round of eggs. I tell you what, that girl could write a book! Chicken Talk with Mags--I bet she could even guest lecture in a library or something (she's been homeschooling the past couple years and seems to be thriving at it! We've never had so much conversation before, and she'd repeatedly say, "Well, the thing is . . ." and then off she'd go on another chicken instruction. It was great! :)



That afternoon and evening the cabin filled with even more family! My cousin K brought her daughter (the boys weren't feeling good). My chicken tutor's mom and baby brother also swelled our ranks. It was fun to see my brother and my cousin with their sons, born just two months apart, and speculate on the stories they will have to tell in the future. I heard some new ones of their dads' adventures . . . how did they survive? ;) But, I think it's neat that pretty much everyone from the first round was finished with their family expansions. This meant baby M was to be without cousins his own age--unheard of in our matching age generations current and past. But, along came a little surprise, and now the boys each have a buddy to enjoy at family reunions for years to come!




There was lots of time for holding babies that day, one of my favorite things :) Brennen and my niece spent much of their time singing worship songs together with the guitar in the loft above
our heads. They both have very nice voices!

And wouldn't you know it, after my nephew headed for home . . . two deer appeared right on his hunting grounds! I think they must have felt safe because the great blonde hunter was no longer on their trail. They walked right into the open and looked all around. Good thing the *traps* were taken down earlier in the day or Mr. L would have had to come right back and take care of his prey! :)




Buck took the boys and Caelan back out for one more round of hunting. Caelan decided if she didn't get a deer, she was NOT getting up again at 4:30 a.m. to give it another try the next morning :) It worked out fine that last year she got a deer and the other two did not ... this year the other two got a deer and she did not. But she'll have to keep a look out for the guy in orange below. It won't be long 'til he's competing for venison too :)

On the Way Home

Our final morning was nice and low key. The baby slept 5.5 hours straight, much to his parents' delight! No hunters set out for pre-dawn blind arrival. We simply woke up, made some coffee and chai, and eased our way into breakfast. In fact, Mr. Baby was so chill, the kids took their first turns of the weekend holding him! You can see he was happy to hang out with Graysen--probably dreaming of all those hikes they'll take outdoors someday :)

While Linsey and I visited and traded boys to snuggle, our husbands took care of breakfast making. Maple bacon, piles of eggs, and toast appeared on the table. Our hungry crew finished it off in no time. Then began the packing process.

I divided the table down the middle. All the stuff that was ours on one side, all the stuff that was theirs on the other, all the stuff my parents, cousins, and aunt had left down the middle. The central section we divvied up as we thought we'd use. A small remnant went back to my aunt's house, and another bag full packaged up for my mom. The deer in the park got the apples (they were dented anyway :)











After we wished farewell to the northern trio (I'll see you again soon, baby!), the boys worked on getting the wet tent packed up, the girls helped wash the remaining dishes in the sink, I loaded up the coolers and kitchen items then headed upstairs to finish packing the clothes and bedding the girls had gotten a start on earlier. Once my massive piles of packing were ready, the kids all took over the process of moving everything--pigs included--out to the patio for Buck to load. He was working on getting the motorbike and the deer head secured for transport.

While they loaded, I cleaned. So much sweeping (my brother had been good about keeping the downstairs in check during the weekend), counter wiping, bathroom tidying, making sure all the windows were locked and the curtains were released from our miscellaneous tie-back solutions. Gabby wiped out the fridge and Buck loaded up several bags of trash for drop off (another task my brother kept us ahead on throughout the weekend). Confident my deposit was secure, we locked the door and headed to my aunt's house. She had forgotten her salt shaker at the cabin and in this family--we do not leave salt shakers behind!! Ha!

I'm not sure how they got on the subject, but Aunt C had some hollyhocks growing outside her house. We recently checked out a picture book at the library about hollyhocks, and I believe they come up again in the kids' reading for school this semester. It seems charming little dolls can be made by taking a bloom and a bud and connecting them together. Aunt C demonstrated this to the kids, telling them how she used to make a whole wedding party from the blooms when she was a child. More recently, her grandchildren, my kids' second cousins once removed (?) have made the blooms into little men and a variety of other fun people. They also eat the pansies she plants, but we didn't try those :)

Graysen requested a book on the town's early history, and Aunt C was able to produce one. Caelan took a run at the house piano, while we looked at some family photos that surfaced from some old negatives.

Well, we needed to get on the road to pick up our dog, and they needed to get on the road for a northern excursion, so we packed ourselves back into our vans and started our drive home. At a gas station a couple towns down the road, Caelan took over the driver's seat and got in an hour more of practice. This time, she even got some weather. The sky shared light rain, and Caelan got to learn about headlights, windshield wipers, and getting ready for the massive spray semi trucks kick up on such days.

We arrived home, retrieved the happy dog, and then the work really began--unpacking, laundry, pet care, going through mail, etc. etc. You'd think we'd been gone a month! But, I won't bore you with those details. We'll skip ahead to the next day, when we opened up our own little butcher shop :)

It's a Process

When I say "we," I mean Buck and the girls . . . I was busy with laundry and other tasks (including getting school ready for the next day) while they worked on getting Gabby's venison sliced, ground, and bagged for the freezer.







To preserve a memory piece for Gabby, Buck had removed the antlers from the head for a future display--and threw the remains on our back hill. Well, it seems the coyotes? perhaps found the head overnight and dragged it onto our neighbor's lawn. See all those black dots in the tree? Those are all GIGANTIC turkey vultures, keeping an eye on the remains. Just about as many were circling in the air above.

Buck had noticed this before he left for work and texted the kids to take care of it. When two had a break from school, one (G$) donned some plastic gloves and the other (Gabby) attended to fight off any swooping vultures. I kept an eye on things too, to make sure no one got carried away or attacked while they moved the concern to a less conspicuous location. It was pretty crazy when all the birds lifted off the tree and started swirling in the sky above them! But everyone made it back safely . . . except for the deer that is . . . :)

A Packing We Will Go

In addition to my usual three-page, front and back, Master Packing List, I added a fourth sheet dedicated exclusively to cabin weekend packing. For this cabin, we have to bring all the blankets, pillows, dish towels, hot pads, pillowcases, bathroom towels, dish cloths, etc. etc. We also have to bring any food, saran-wrap, crock pots, coolers, and so on that might be necessary--even the coffee filters and grounds, whew! Comprehensive. Not to mention all of the hunting gear AND we were going to need some clothes. As you'll see in the following pictures, just the kids' clothes covered most of the living room!

Eventually everything was all neatly packed and ready to load into TWO vans (yup, this trip required two cruisers :) Because, in addition to all the aforementioned, we also took two guinea pigs and their food, a tent, a gas can, and a motorcycle! The last fit very nicely on the luggage rack we have so often used for family travel in the past. I drove behind Buck for most of the way to make sure our new wheels didn't fall off our old wheels. He secured the bike very well and it barely moved.

Part of our drive to the countryside included our permitted driver gaining some highway miles. She's not practiced for quite awhile because it has been so HOT and the van (as I'm sure you remember) has no a/c. Well, our journey day proved quite pleasant, and Miss C got to exceed her former top speed of 50. She did pretty well for having a dad in her ear and a mom/sister on a cell phone texting instructions to the dad :) After about an hour, she was over it. Those big semis seem to shake the whole van on the two-lane highways! But most of all she wanted lunch, ha!

We arrived at the cabin and found it just as we remembered--only with a bit more dust on the high-ceiling fans (my tall brother subsequently took care that :) It still had that lovely piney smell, and other than a few settling warps in the floor, still felt fairly new. The park staff added headboards to the beds--a great improvement, as the beds are mostly on wheels and slide into the roof slants of the upper level. Not anymore! Our pillows stayed in place, just as we like them.

While I was busy setting up the kitchen and unpacking our seemingly massive quantity of food, Buck and the boys started building our tent. We were given funds for this tent two years ago at Christmas. I ordered it off of the Costco website, and we have never set it up . . . not even once! However, we remembered from last year, a dozen or so kiddos running around needed some extra contained space outside of the cabin. This seemed like the perfect solution! It did work fairly well. Our hiccup was the strong winds wanting to blow it away during setup! No one could sleep in it because of the mountain lion prowling the area, but it did serve as a "hunting blind," a baseball backdrop, a hideout, a game room, and a place to play guitar. Unfortunately, we didn't get it packed up before a big ol' rain storm hit the last night we were there (hardly any internet, so we couldn't check the weather). We brought home a fairly soggy, but not too bad, tent. Buck and the boys let it sun dry on our back deck and amazingly it fit back into the original storage space!

Isn't it funny how Buck and Brennen are standing almost identically in this picture??!



All the while, I was keeping an eye on the nearby gravel road for a telltale cloud of dust. FINALLY, my brother and sister-in-law arrived and I got to meet my sweet nephew for the first time! He was surprisingly comfortable with the wind and seemed to be intrigued with the great outdoors. But I needed to hold him, so it didn't matter if we were indoors or out, snuggle time had arrived!

Caelan decided to give baby time a try too--little guy was kind of wanting his mama after his longest drive ever. I don't blame him. I get a cranky after long car rides too, and I don't usually get to nap like he did!

Like all newborns, he had his sweet times and his fussy times, but it is good to hear a baby's healthy cry--and a lot less stressful when it's not your own :) My sister-in-law seems to be a natural at motherhood and handled her little boy with an amazing amount of grace and patience. He loves her and is so comforted by her presence! And I was impressed with my brother stepping up to his role as dad and supporting his bride in all things baby--even refilling her water glass and keeping an eye on the nursing momma's plate. He was king of diaper duty, sang several rounds of a calming How Great Thou Art, and took baby for a long "let mom rest after a rough night" drive. Good teamwork!



Why yes, that is Mr. G$ on motorbike! With the wide open spaces and flatlands available to him, Graysen had no trouble figuring out the motorcycle this time. It wasn't long until I was having heart palpitations as he came flying around corners and gunned it down the long stretches! He rode for what seemed like hours--only taking a break when his brother wanted a turn.

"Dad, I turned the handle, but it wouldn't twist any more." Yup, he discovered top speed--aye-yi-yi. The girls spent a little time riding, as did my brothers, my dad, my husband, and my cousin A. From what I heard, the bike flipped once (my oldest, younger brother), ran into an electric pole (my eldest son), lost a fender screw, flooded, got a bend in the frame?, and became completely filthy driving the wet grass after the rains. More than once I'd hear someone say, "Is that Piglet, I hear?" and out the door they'd go to get in line for the helmet and goggles :)

Later on the first evening, we were glad to welcome my twin cousins and their brother with two of his kiddos. The kids played so nicely together--having all sorts of *wilderness* adventures. And when we insisted they stay close to the cabin lights for fear of big kitties prowling about, they happily squished bugs and played with rocks in the driveway.

We didn't anticipate keeping them up so late, knowing the hunters would be up and att'em early the next morning, but it took a couple hours longer than expected for our final inhabitants of the evening to arrive with -- surprise -- extra kiddos in tow!

Cabin Day Two

We slept iffy that first night. It's always hard in a new place, new sounds, smaller beds, different everything . . . and a couple of noisy guinea pigs at our feet. The oft-used bathroom door had a never-ending squeal (that we fixed with cooking spray as soon as the sun came up), and I'm told the downstairs was somewhat arctic given the previous inhabitants' a/c settings.

Buck was so excited to get going into the woods, that he woke up several times. He said at 1:30 a.m. he popped up and thought he'd overslept--I seriously cannot imagine ever thinking this at 1:30 in the morning :) By the time the real alarm went off at 4:30 a.m., Buck was up, dressed, making coffee, and getting ready to wake the other sleeping hunters. Caelan, Gabby, my dad, my brother, and Buck set out that first morning. It was a little hard to go back to sleep because there are no doors to the upstairs, it's all just an open loft-type situation. My boys, barely moved. They must have been out like lights!

Shortly after the hunters left, my VERY excited niece and nephew woke up, came to the kitchen, and began to chat.

"This is my FIRST vacation! I can't believe it! I LIVE in a CABIN now! I wonder if mom is sad. I bet she's scared. She might think we're being EATEN right NOW [by the mountain lion]." This was at 5:45 a.m. Oh.my.carrots. I'll admit grouchy Auntie J showed up for a few minutes, though my lecture wasn't entirely for the two bright-eyed youth. "Do you always get up this early?" I asked incredulously. "Sometimes," was the answer. Eventually they were taken out to a vehicle to watch a movie until we, including the new parents who'd had a fussy lad much of the night, were more ready to start our day.

Brennen was my kitchen buddy; we started preparing breakfast around 9 a.m. L and baby were still trying to catch some of those elusive nighttime zzzz's. I turned on the electric stovetop. Pulled out a non non-stick pan--what? Put Brennen in charge of the bacon--because frankly, he rocks at bacon-making--and started working on waffles (we ended up making the ENTIRE box!!) So it turns out that the combination of a new kind of stove top (ours is gas), a new kind of pan, and thinner than usual slabs of bacon results in immediate smoking charcoal-like sticks of burningness. And off go the fire alarms. Shrieking at the top of their collective voices. I threw the smoking pan of grease/charred bacon outside, turned on all the fans to high, opened every window and outside door in the place--and still the fire alarms shrieked. Ugh.

Eventually everything calmed down, we had a nice breakfast, and though the alarms had disturbed L, she said the baby didn't even notice. Ha! Babies :)


Despite their early arrival at the official family deer blinds, the hunters did not have early morning success. This turned out to be a good thing, since my dad and brother forgot their phones (for taking pictures of any deer they might harvest, along with the ability to ask for help in the field dressing process) and their tag. The deer cooperated nicely by not being shot-worthy and got them into no trouble with the DNR ;)

Later in the afternoon, they gave it another go. Success!! Gabby shot a big buck right through the heart. They were a bit late in getting back to the cabin for dinner, but they decided the temperature would be cool enough overnight (dropping into the 40s) that the meat would be fine to hang 'til the next day.






Meanwhile at the cabin, we'd spent a day with cousins! Lots of guitar lessons took place, basketball games, Frisbee, throwing the football around, playing at the newly built playground, riding Piglet, petting the guinea pigs, and trying to find space for all the food. My cousin L is a fantastic baker and she made bars, brownies, and more treats. My Aunt C brought a big tub of my favorite bran muffins stuffed with strawberry cream cheese! It was a joke of the weekend to see who would discover the three that didn't get filling because the cream cheese ran out during the baking process. How funny that my sister-in-law didn't like the filling and saved the very last muffin for me--which was an empty! Had she just switched her muffin, we'd both have ended up with the kind we liked :) It didn't matter, they were all good!

We decided it would be easier to eat all the family meals at the cabin. My aunt and uncle brought some card tables and folding chairs to expand our seating capabilities for outdoor dining. My twin cousins brought dinner the first night--pulled pork sandwiches from their smoker; so yummy!

Afterwards, my brother broke out his computer and attached it to the t.v. (I don't know if we'd even turned the t.v. on before then!) From there, he was able to show long-forgotten home movies from when we were kids, family photos, even grandparent photos. It was great to laugh and share memories and be completely shocked at our previous fashion and hair choices ;) You'd think by now, we'd have remembered and shared all the stories there are to share--but NOPE, I heard a bunch this round that I have no recollection of--many from funerals of distant relatives we were all taken to ask youngsters. Hmmm.










This was my sweep of the room sans panorama. I got just about all the grown-ups, but I think some of the little ones were playing upstairs. My crew was good about teaching the younger set the games we brought along--Blockus and Dutch Blitz. The cabin certainly isn't huge, so it was good to have everyone finding their own nook. We (with the exception of Mr. Baby and his dear parents) slept really well that night!