Memorial Day, Chickens, and Muriel

Memorial Day promised rain . . . it only sort of delivered, which was fine by us :) Gabby changed her window art from a guitar to a flag, and Buck fixed our broken flag pole. Buck (with help from the Crew) set up the clearance event tent he snagged last year and the foldable picnic table he snagged this year. Caelan has used this area pretty much non-stop with Miss Muriel the early riser/noise maker :)



We invited two (also essential worker) families over to enjoy the backyard, some bbq-ing and marshmallow roasting. It was a good day of connections, and the kids found every sword, Nerf, play gun, bow and arrow . . . I had no idea we were so well armed :)



Check in with the Chick en (s) :) They don't like to get their feet muddy, so they all hopped up on the wood pallet perch Buck built them. Only two were still on the ground (and then of course the six babies in the back coop). It was fun to see them all up in a row, shaking out their feathers, and saying hello :)



Muriel continues her pursuit of being Chauncey's tormentor and friend. She constantly bites his tail, and sometimes it makes him cry in pain, so we are trying to curb that enthusiasm in her puppy personality. 

Graysen, on the other hand, was thrilled when she decided to "eat his homework." Classic! She looks pretty happy about it, too :) My brother pointed out that the lesson included a word problem about dogs. The funny thing is, she just ate the last three completed lessons, not the one he needed to finish for that day. G$ was less enthusiastic at that point, ha!



In addition to learning how to dig (first time we've had a digger), Muriel has claimed Chauncey's giant bed as her royal slumber situation. How do you argue with a furry, fury on four-legs? :)



On another break-in-the-clouds sort of day, we got the chicken coop/nesting boxes cleaned out whilst letting the big chickens (and reluctant baby chickens) free range. Caelan decided to see how Muriel would react to the birds . . . she didn't. Couldn't have cared less. (Granted most of the chickens are larger than she is :) 



Muriel is still sleeping (we define that term loosely around here) in the garage. We tried to bring her into the laundry room last night, but she was more confused than comforted. I started singing the Indiana Jones theme song and she quieted down. When I ran out of breath, the upstairs choir took over. Then Gabby brought down Caelan's phone and played the theme in the laundry room--it worked! But as soon as it stopped, she'd start barking again. We tried Pirates of the Caribbean and Who Let the Dogs Out? She thought we were mocking her and barked more. So, back to the garage she went. But any time she starts fussing, we all sing Bum-bu-bum-bummmm, bum-ba-da at the top of our lungs and she quiets right down. She's probably wondering, "Who in the world did I end up with?" Ha!

Work Day 7,852

On the one sunny day we got between all the gloom and "April" showers, we had another work day on the Acre :) First Buck and the boys pulled off the shaky deck railings (at some point these were body slammed during football on our very narrow playing field). Gabby spent forevs painting the repair and other new construction on the deck.



I got lots of sunburn and gnarly thorn scratches turning our landscaping back into something other than a jungle jumble. That rose bush on the far end is made out of razors instead of thorns. It was 85 percent bigger than this when I started … but I discovered a nest with neon blue eggs and decided I'd better stop and let the mama bird come back to tend her babies-to-be. Buck helped me dig out a dead rose bush--their roots are like tree trunks!! And we fought some other weird plant that was growing up inside the trim of the house and also had roots like a log. The peonies, the new lilac, the snowbush, and the old lilac got similar treatment from my shears. The piles of debris were enormous, so they got hauled up to the eventual burn pile on the hill behind the trees.





These are the planter boxes Graysen and Gabby built to replace the ones we scrapped when we pulled off the old deck a few years ago. The girls planted their Easter basket seeds and we've already got some little sprouts a-growing!



I braved the trek up the hill to look at my deer-eaten cherry trees. I gave them an additional pruning and we'll have to see if they make it. Buck said the chickens scared off three deer who were nosing around this morning. Guard chickens, yes!! I just need to figure out how to keep a few awake all night to bolster the effort. It's not going to be easy :)

To celebrate the summer weather and getting a ton done, Buck smoked ribs, Caelan made homemade mac and cheese, and Gabby made cornbread muffins. We ate on the deck and enjoyed the weather!





I feel like there was probably more that I wanted to write on this post, but I seriously can't remember one day from another, so it seems. I'm sure that lawnmowing happened. Caelan worked on training Muriel to avoid the electric fence (except I don't see flags, so maybe this was the day she and Graysen put them in?) And Buck set his Christmas deer between our house and our neighbors' so they can practice shooting their bows from their decks :) Whew! It's looking good around here!

Battleships--Quarentine Edition

Well, this was a cool thing. There is a family at church who we've connected with over the past year. Gabby babysits often for the three kiddos. I was in a cohort Bible study with the momma, and Buck with the dad. We watch the two-year-old in the nursery, and he loves Buck (and chickens). I taught this family's daughter at VBS several years ago, which was how we first met (and my friend never fails to tell the story of how I helped her then-preschooler overcome her fear of toilet flushing :) That leaves just one member of the family unaccounted for--Charlie. Brennen and Charlie have become buds through all the church childcare gigs he's volunteered for, despite their difference in ages.

Charlie's dad is a double essential worker--paramedic and UPS driver. He is working long hours, has a bunch of weird safety protocols to follow, and his family misses him terribly when he's away. Not easy for young kids or his young wife (who is quarantined with the young kids :)

Last week I got a text from my friend saying, "Charlie made a list and 'play Battleships with Brennen' is at the top.'" I let Brennen know and he said, "Great! Charlie is my bro!" So after mowing the lawn and doing some landscaping for our neighbor, and after Charlie's dad headed to work followed by a flood of tears, we set up a Zoom call so the two guys could play Battleships.


I took this above pic of Brennen, and my friend took this similar pic of Charlie (technically we could have each helped our sons win, but we're better moms than that, lol :) They were on the Zoom call for a couple hours, played three full games, I think, and Brennen listened as Charlie read him a book and showed him cool things in his currently-isolated world. The best part is that Brennen fully enjoyed this hang out time with Charlie; I love that heart he has for others ❤



I later got this text from my friend . . .



She was amazed and thankful that her bummed little boy became talkative and happy getting to spend some face time with Brennen. Makes me proud of my son! Thankful that he was willing to show God's love to a hurting kiddo, and thankful that took a little stress off of my friend, too.

A Bit More Back to Normal

We had our first music lesson since Covid . . . it looks more like storytime in this picture :)

More Masks

Our pastor stopped by and grabbed the half batch of masks we recently finished. He dropped them off at the medical center for underserved women, where our Africa trip leader is a midwife. She messaged me to say that all the nurses were ooohing and ahhhing over the cute patterns--thanks to my mom and neighbor for donating a bunch of fabric. She said the masks will go to the expectant moms who are required to wear them for prenatal office visits and delivery. They're in a fragile economic situation, so this is mask-making process is meeting a need. She said to keep them coming, so we're doing what we can! 

The second photo is the other double dozen that we need to drop off. I have totally lost count, but I think we're over 150 with these. Seems like it should be 1,500, but I think we've got a good method going now--making easier cloth straps, since elastic is hard to find. 

Doggie Diapers

We had a little extra fabric and Caelan was a little extra tired of cleaning the kennel multiple times each day (not just the floor, but each wire square where the puppy jumped and bounced and attempted to escape). It's a big process. So I suggested Caelan try making the puppy a little diaper (worked out that the pink matched her collar, her leash, her hot water bottle, and her squeaky pig :) I know my nephew is super excited to see more pictures of Muri in her didey, so here they are A, just for you! ;)



Chauncey is slowly accepting the wee one, and sometimes allows cuddles from the tail-biting, bark monster (when her random bursts of energy appear). We are dealing (unfortunately) with a case of roundworms in the puppy (YUCK!), so there have been a lot of sleepless nights . . . basically most of them since she arrived. However, she's starting to self-soothe, and normally only barks the first 30 minutes she's kenneled at bedtime, the hour between 3:30 and 4:30 a.m. and then again, starting around 7. All the barking. And then very soon after . . .

Quadruple Triple

The III degree patches and new, longer belts, finally arrived! But first a look back . . .

White belts, where it all started in the fall of 2014



I degree black belts, spring 2016





II degree black belts, fall 2017





III degree black belts, spring 2020





Their comments are mostly, "Look how tall I am! Look at Gabby's teeth! Graysen looks so young! I look like a giant!" :) Oh how times have changed. Everyone is shifting heights and smiles, but one day soon they'll all settle in and we'll see where they line up. Lots of changes, but we're proud of the people they are and are becoming. It's always fun to look back :)

Out of the Blue, Clear Sky

A couple of years ago, we put this reflective heat blocker film on most of our upstairs windows to give the old furnace/air conditioner a fighting chance. We've been looking at a deceivingly dark backyard ever since. When we noticed the film has suffered some chipping and damage (and that the corners were peeling) Brennen decided to not only peel the stuff off, but polish up the window afterwards. It looks so clear, we keep thinking the glass is missing :) 

He wants to keep peeling the other windows, but we're just going to make sure the HVAC can keep up with our greenhouse effect when the days warm up and the clouds clear off. (Plus, we can look out the windows and no one can see us because of the reflective nature of the anti-heat stickers. A little generational OO7 there ;)





Another cool project that the kids took on recently . . . bike building! Inspired by cousin A, perhaps :) A couple of years ago, my sister's fam gave us a pair of retooled bicycles. We've moved these from shed to garage and back again for several seasons (it's all hills 'round here, so family bike rides aren't something we do . . . although we had big plans for ourselves when we took the bikes). Graysen rode one until the back wheel couldn't be repaired, the chains grew rusty(er), and Brennen took the seat clip for his new bike (as noted in a previous blog post). We basically had bits and pieces of two bikes that no longer functioned.




When we found out our pastor's family was one bike shy of a family bike ride, Brennen decided to pull all the good parts off the broken bikes to make one solid bike to gift as we were gifted, before. We looked up videos on how to remove a chain (and then gave up because that wasn't happening!) 

Gabby suggested they move the big tires off the bike with no seat onto the better-shape bike with the broken back wheel. This plan worked well to replace the back wheel/tire, but the brace on the front tire was more narrow. This required the wider tire to be deflated and the tread part moved onto the front wheel (yay, that the spoke/wheel size itself was the same!), the van keys were required to run an air pump, and amazingly two working, matching, tires appeared on the bike! Graysen switched the kickstands, Brennen fixed the brakes (well, as well as older brakes can be fixed) and got most of the gears working. Gabby got herself covered in grease and then polished up the frame. Quite the transformation!



Buck decided he should give the bike a try, so after a third work day (I don't have pictures because I had to lay down and sleep for awhile that day) he and three kids headed off into the woods with their bikes. It was not an easy ride, but Buck determined the bike was rideable and safe for our pastor's daughter (even though it's a boy bike, she won't care :) Gabby polished it up a second time, and tonight the girls are delivering the bike at their class about listening to God, taught by our pastor's wife. Whew! It's hard to write this without using names :)



Anyway, it was a cool project all around! We got to recycle two throw-away bikes into one functional one. Brennen learned some sweet new skills. We made a family happy, and we now have two fewer bikes to move from the shed to the garage and back again ;) One of these days Buck might get himself a comfortable bike and start riding again, but after 20 years of not, he realized it is like hopping back on a bike again, but also very much not, ha!

Another Work Day

Make hay while the sun shines! And if it's too early for the hay to grow, do other projects until it does :) Brennen (with Gabby's help) spent quite a long time putting new crossbars on my swing. It keeps blowing over in the wind. We have it secured with dog tie-out stakes, but when the crossbars bent, they pulled the stakes out of the ground. It's nice to have my swing back in working order! Now I just need to spray it with Deep Woods to keep the ticks off of it and me :)


Another big project . . . plant my cherry trees! This proved tricky, since we had less hill space than I thought we did. Our property lines kind of just run together, and we figured we shouldn't plant on our neighbor's part of the yard :) So, finding an 18 to 20 foot distance for each of the three trees wasn't the easiest thing, but I hope they grow big and strong and we can hang three hammocks under their shade (in a few years?)


 And another big moment! The chicken babies are out of the garage and into their own little outdoor coop! We rigged up food and water and they had no idea what to do with themselves. The big chickens came over to investigate, through their coop wire . . . oh the sassy comments they made about their new neighbors! Our water bucket had a leaky spout, so, of course, that's where the brilliant chicks decided to lay down for their night's rest. I climbed the hill to check on them and found them soaking wet in a mud puddle. So I threw them through the upstairs doorway of their coop and stuck a board across the opening. Sometimes they seem to have bird brains ;)




Muriel helped Caelan supervise as we all worked. Gabby took a turn puppy-sitting, I think so Caelan could gather eggs.



This was an unexpected turn of events! We knew when we moved in that we had a buried fence and an electric collar for dog containment. However, the previous owners didn't really know where the fence was, boundary-wise, and Chauncey was hopeless with the system at our previous home, so we just bought the tie-out and called it a day. 

Eventually we discovered the location of certain sections of the wire . . . while digging. Ooops! With a new puppy, we thought it might be nice to have some sort of containment system and saw we could install a smallish one ourselves for around $200 (plus a lot of work). But why not have the original installation company come out and see if they could repair any cuts to the line? So we did. The same day that our neighbors decided to take down their wooden fence and to have a different company (who installed the buried fence on the neighbors' lawn on our other side) give an estimate to wire their yard.

Gabby and I missed these events because she FINALLY got to go to the orthodontist (after two months). That was a weird process with parking lot text messages that we'd arrived, masks, sanitizing, and me being sent back to the car to wait. Anyway, Buck said "our" company could make repairs, set us up with a battery replacement subscription, drop off some flags, do some training, etc. etc. More than the $$$ to do it ourselves, but not as outrageous as putting in a whole new system for the big yard.

In the meantime, our neighbors went ahead with their new underground fence installation. We watched as this tall, skinny kid maneuvered this huge ground cutting/wire-laying machine up and down our insane hills. When he stopped to rest, Buck asked him if he wanted to take a look at our system, to see if it was fixable and compatible with their company's product. 

Well, ya! Who is going to turn down an unexpected cash offer? :) Once they finished at our neighbors', they simply walked over to our yard. I found a cord in the shed that made the thing in the garage work and the two yard guys started their inspection. They had a swingy microphone dealie on a rope and when it found our buried wire it hummed. They walked the whoooooole yard, front, back, even behind the coop and it only stopped humming twice! That meant only two breaks in the system. 

They brought that crazy machine up the hill and fixed the big break, and they fixed the wire break by the driveway. Within 45 minutes, our entire yard was up and running with an underground fence! We found the collar and unopened batteries (in the same kitchen drawer the last owners had dropped them in when they moved out). They amazingly still work! 

We really felt like God set that up for us. We had no intentions of fixing the fence, even a few days before, and boom, it was done--for $100! This is also cool, because when/if Caelan does the service dog training program again, she can use the electric fence to exercise the dogs, and they need exercise! We may even try to teach our old dog new tricks. We'd have to buy a bigger collar, but he would probably like having the run of the yard. Muri is still a bit young and new to us to start training, but Caelan is getting in buried fence training practice with our neighbors' dogs (who are freaked out to go into their yard because of the rather too-intense training they received by the installers).





And our final big project of the day: here's a little before and after of the tree-clearing process. Buck's chainsaw definitely kicked things up a notch. He pulled down more trees in minutes than we did in hours! He also set up a burn barrel to get rid of last year's cuttings. We decided to drag all the newly cut trees and the trees we'd dragged down the hill back up the hill behind a screen of four really big trees that we decided to keep. Granted these have the cedar apple rust on them, so we also bought some fruit tree spray that we're going to give a go once it stops raining.

Despite the gloomy sky in picture two, the hill really does look a lot nicer and cleaner and hopefully has a better chance at growing pretty things like wildflowers and blossoming trees now that the nutrient suckers are fought way back. All in a day's work!