chicken update

I know many of you have been anxiously waiting to see how we rebuilt our chicken coop. Since we were not sure about the precise place that we wanted to relocate the coop we opted to do a temporary coop using the dog run and other materials we scrounged up. Dan was able to procure from a friend some corrugated metal roofing at no charge. The metal roofing was zip tied to the dog kennel walls and roof. We reused the pots from the sycamore trees that we planted in the fall for the nests. Plenty of plastic buckets always abound on small farms so we were set for the water bucket. The metal feeder survived the fire, though scorched and a little misshaped. A few plastic pipes that we found in the barn were turned into the chickens' roosts. And all of this cost zero dollars. I always like that amount as an outgoing figure from me. The coop is not perfect but it'll do for now. The chickens seem to like it. Their egg production has doubled since moving into their new home. But, that could be attributed to Dan and Zayne axing the roosters. The hens have been much calmer without the males terrorizing them. The main cock wouldn't let the Polish(Einstein) and the Silkie(Furry Foot) hens out of the coop. Furry Foot died in the fire. Now Einstein, who always acted like she was about to have a nervous break down, leaves the coop relaxed and sociable. She was once the clean hen in the coop, now she is out in the dirt getting her fluffy face dirty. I am happy for her.

So that is the chicken update. Wait til you find out who is coming to the farm this Saturday. . .


Inside the coop.

first snow

Yesterday we received the first snow fall of the season. Zayne was enthusiastic and ran outside to play. I got a kick out of watching the joy he exuded in his play. The best part was when on one the kittens got up on the table and attacked a snowman. Sorry, no picture of the attack.

Yesterday was a memorable day for it was the first day that we planted a family garden on our own property. Well, it technically is not our property yet, but the people that we are buying our house from asked us if we wanted to get a head start on the garden since we won't close on the house until June 30th. Don and Janet, the current owners, are incredible people. Janet was out in the garden most of the day with us eager to help out whenever she saw we needed help. Indeed, it was good that she was there to give us tips on how they had layed out their garden with the drip irrigation and how to work the different watering zones with the computerized timer. Whew. Such a system will save hours in watering time as well as water for it only waters where a small drip hole is in the watering line. Hopefully this leads to less weeds.This is a view of the garden behind the house. On the left side you can see a bit of the orchard that is three years old. We planted five rows of corn, tomatoes, beets, carrots, lettuce, cucumbers, various peppers, peas, melons, various squashes and of course pumpkins. We still have three and a half empty rows in which to plant more. The kids had a fun time driving the tractor to till up the soil and planting the seeds and plants, though hauling out rocks wasn't their favorite thing of the day.

Between Zayne and the barn is the perennial garden area, in which we have blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, currents, grapes, rhubarb and asparagus.

Saturday was a day of firsts for Zayne. He had his first slalom ski race. He did great and didn't even miss any gates. Then Dan took the family out to Haines Steak House for Valentines Day dinner where he had his first T-bone steak, 20 ounces. He ate about half of it after eating two meals worth of food from the salad bar. He finished the rest of it for breakfast. I think Dan was proud of his little carnivore son.

Zayne's a winner and how skiing is work

Zayne was so proud to receive first place for the Scouts Pinewood Derby tonight. Yeah Zayne! Dan's hard work paid off.
I haven't done any posting for awhile. I know you all must be "pining" for my updates. In short, this is what we've been up to since November: holidays trips, homeschooling, skiing, visiting family in Utah, loving being with family, homeschooling, skiing, looking at houses, getting frustrated looking at houses, homeschooling, skiing, looking at lots, getting frustrated at the lack of lots, homeschooling, skiing, selling some of our Poodles, homeschooling, skiing and not much else.

Ah. . . the joy of frolicking through fresh fallen frosty flakes brings me such peace and exhileration at the same time. Since the skiing season began I feel that there is more sunshine beaming into our lives as it is one of our favorite family past times. I must admit that skiing on weekdays was one of the reasons we opted to homeschool. The children and I have even started XC skiing which has been interesting. After taking Zayne for the first time he stopped after 20 minutes and panted, "I thought this was going to be fun, but this is work." Hopefully they will stick with it.
Devon Zayne, Dan and Joshi at Alta
Devon getting to know his local snow.

Playing with the cousins in Deer Valley
Joshi

bathroom surprises

One evening Dan and I were out running errands together. We came home to see Joshi happily rushing at us surprised that we had finished so early. "What a treat to have a child thrilled to see me only after a short separation," I thought. Yet, I was saddened to see that Zayne had not yet unloaded the dishwasher as he was supposed to and began to call out to him. Joshi said that he was in the bathroom and that she would do his chore for him. Pleased by this unusual eagerness to help we let her do as she desired, but I wasn't going to let Zayne off the hook. When I opened the bathroom door this is what I saw along with a surprised look on a little boy's face.
I shut the door and laughed heartily. Joshi saw that her preemptive actions did not succeed which made me continue laughing. I was shocked that they would do such a thing because their father is so allergic to cats. Yet, I was thrilled to see their cute little mischievous minds working. Their only guiltiness always lies in squabbling or failing to do tasks. Not that I want them to be hooligans, but this was really cute. I told Dan to go look in the bathroom. He saw this.
The children were allowed to feed "Milky" on the back porch. Sometimes Milky follows them home when he sees them on his street. One cold day we even did a whole school day in the shed so the children could be near him while they studied. Milky was one of the most pleasant bathroom surprises I've ever had.

butty wanted in on the mullet action

Zayne, the fighting lizard.
Joshi,a clown that got kicked by an elephant.

Don't you just love Halloween; the crisp autumn air,the enthused children and refined sugar flowing and bubbling through the streets like water. It brings out the kid in all of us. The whole town turned out for trick-or-treating with the main street businesses. It was exciting to see the children and adults dressed up for the holiday. By far, the best costume was a little girl dressed as a pirate driving her wheel chair pirate ship.

Halloween seems to be used as an excuse by some ladies to dress like hussies. I am sure you have noticed that also. Apparently, Dan was a little bit disappointed that I didn't appear more feminine this Halloween. He wouldn't let me kiss him or get close in any way until I washed up. I think I looked pretty attractive with my uni-brow and mullet. I saw folks checking me out in awe of my beauty. I was surprised only a couple of friends recognized me.

small town life

Yes, I am loving the small town life. I love walking or biking everywhere. I love that everyone is friendly. Haven't met a grouchy person yet. I love walking Dan the five blocks to work and having two cars pass us in rush hour. I love Dan coming home for lunch. I love mountain biking from my door. I love the sense of community. I love that the average speed is 21 mph, even in a 35 mph zone. I love. . . I could go on and on.

The pace of life has slowed down for us and we welcome that change. We are in the honeymoon phase of this lifestyle morph. All the rosiness might wear off as time passes, especially when winter hits. The two mountain passes were closed ten times last winter, blocking off the town from the world. One thing that Dan misses is a place to open up and let his car fly and some clover leaf on-ramps for corner hugs. I dislike having a Walmart nearby. This might sound shocking to those who heard me say before moving here, "At least they have a Walmart." The area surrounding Walmart feels busy and worldly. I'd rather shop at the multiple Mom and Pop shops around town.

Its been nice loosening the apron strings a bit. The kids have free reign to walk or bike wherever in town. I make them take a cell phone to keep in touch. Sometimes I make myself stay home instead of frolicking with them for the few remaining days of summer. I believe they need time to experience and explore childhood without their mother hoovering about to grant or deny permission. I feel much more comfortable doing that here than Richmond.

Last week my nephew Devon visited from Utah. He is such a good kid. If all young men were like him Satan would be pretty frustrated and God's work would get a big push forward. It was great to go camping, tour Pendleton Woolen Mills Factory and basically just enjoy him.

Raingutter Ragatta

All of us parents have a certain amount of pride when talking about our children. It is normal and healthy to have such pride and it is the opposite if that pride is lacking. Yet, sometimes some of us error and let our pride lead us to boasting about our children's miraculous feats. I consciously condescend to this boastful practice by gloating that Zayne slaughtered all the other little cub scouts in a multi pack Raingutter Ragatta! Yeah Zayne!

reunion time!

What a group of good looking folks! This year's Le Mmon Reunion was the greatest. Thank you Kimi and Mark for having an awesome cabin in Deer Valley to hold such a gathering. The only thing that we could improve on for next year is to make it longer.

Heather's Top Eleven List of What Made the Le Mmon Reunion so Fab:

11. Singing in bed with my awesome nieces and nephews.

10. The great photo albums that Gigi brought for us all to look through.

9. Seeing Kimi's original hair color in some of those pictures.

8. Witnessing Doctor Dan and Nurse Mark save the hiker with the rock wound.

7. Seeing the darts stuck to the sky lights and in the Elk horns from the out of control dart gun and stuffed animal battle.

6. The children having a great time in the hot tub.

5. The children having a great time peeing in the hot tub.

4. Everyone sliding on their tooshies down the snow patch.

3. Hiking up the mountain on the "short, easy trail" to the snow patch.

2. Pillow Fight!

1. You need a spoon? . . . Here ya go.


Do any Le Mmons have their own list?

dragon's tooth

Here are a few pictures of our hike on the Appalachian Trail to Dragon's Tooth. At the top it is very steep and rocky. We were thrilled to see the dogs as well as ourselves climb some of the rock faces. It was only five miles but seemed longer because the temperatures were in the 100's plus the southern humidity was killing us. But we had to do it because we weren't coming back to the Appalachians anytime soon. Having the Rhododendron blooming helped distract us from our exhaustion. Zayne is on the Dragon's Tooth in the second to last picture.

appomattox

Virginia feels like a humid,firery furnace. Its has been over a hundred degrees for the past several days. Needless to say that this weather can be a bit oppressive and does not motivate one to seek outdoor entertainment. My family showed great love for me as we drove to Roanoke by braving the sticky heat at a stop at Appomattox, Virginia, the ending place of the Civil War. As a history buff wanna-be I always wanted to see the area and house where it all took place. As the sweat poured down my body under my cotton clothes I thought of the soldiers wearing their layers of clothing, amunitions, gun, canteen, etc. and tried not to complain. Living in this century with airconditioned homes and automobiles certainly has its advantages.

I love to look at old photographs especially of Civil War soldiers and imaging their thoughts, desires, lifes, weakenesses and strengths.






Did You Know?
General George Armstrong Custer, of Little Bighorn fame, received the flag of truce at Appomattox Court House that brought about a cessation of hostilities leading to the surrender meeting between Lee and Grant.