Everything that is not dead nettle

While I've talked about how we aim to spend a lot of time outside, I don't want to give off the impression that that time is all, or even mostly spent on nature study. My goal right now is just to get outside. The kids do very little formal nature study. Even those great little examples Charlotte Mason books give about kids coming back with tidbits and the mother encouraging them to picture a scene in their minds and describe. Not happening. The kids come back to me all the time, that part is true, but its to complain about the wind or to ask me to wipe chicken poop off their shoes or rinse sand from their waterbottles (even though I was pretty sure I told them not to take it into the sandbox to begin with) or to beg me to unlock the shed so they can find the "digger for shoveling."

And I'm okay with that for the most part. Every once in a while I feel that worry creep in - shouldn't I be doing more. Maybe I should pick a lesson from HONS and try and work through it with them so I could have something more to write down or check off. But I know at their ages, it would only be an added stress. So I try to keep on my path and remind myself that will come in time. Especially if I keep modeling my own interest in what I see. Which I do but even that can be discouraging sometimes because I feel like I know so little about even the plants and birds in my own back yard! But yesterday I got a glimpse of the ideal, one of those magical moments I wish I could bottle and I need to record it so I can look back and remember next time I need it.

This link was shared on the AO facebook group a week or so ago and it caught my eye because one of the few plants I have been able to identify in my yard without help was when I found "dead nettle" last year. Except, that link showed me that there are two other plants similar to dead nettle. So I had Lucy run out and collect some of what I had been telling her was dead nettle and with that link, and a bit of help from Craig (he is much better at plants than me!), it was officially declared to be ground ivy. Outwardly, I used it as an opportunity to show Lucy that its okay to make mistakes, we just keep learning. Inwardly, I was a bit disappointed. I thought I knew three plants in our yard (clover and dandelion being the other two :-) and I got one of those wrong! I was somewhat appeased that the title of that post said they were easily mixed up plants but only slightly.

Her pensive face?

But then yesterday we were playing outside and she ran over with a clump of something and yelled "Mom, it's not ground clover! But it's similar. Maybe this one is dead nettle. Can we write it?" (I do not know why my children continue to confuse the words draw and write but it happens 75% of the time).

Before I even went back to that link, we sat down and drew them and tried to find all the differences. Jonah drew too but I think he drew a robot dog. He's still not quite getting the point of drawing in the yard but that's the joy of being three years old.

  Our work. Hers is much better for her age than mine but I'm happy with both results. 

I transcribed for Lucy but she came up with the descriptions herself. Her drawings don't fully illustrate it but she did an amazing job at finding the differences. Even though neither of us knew how to correctly describe the differences in the leaf attachments or shapes, we were able to see them at least. Then I went back and read her some of the descriptions from that link I mentioned to see what she thought. She was pretty sure the new one was henbit (and I'm pretty sure she's right). She also guessed that it was called that because hens like to eat it and a little internet research proved her right. Our self experimentation on that subject proved inconclusive as chickens don't like to be chased even if you have something edible in your hand and are trying to give it to them. They just don't understand the nature study.

But she does. And together we are learning. Yay us!

Breezeway Stage 1 aka No Poop Allowed!

We spent this past weekend finishing up stage 1 of the breezeway remodel. It's a really akward space to photograph but here is it almost at the beginning, dark wood, wood paneling and falling down ceiling texture. Craig had already taken off some odd fake support pieces but you can see where they attached in the upper corner. And the possible asbestos tiles were removed before we moved in almost 5 years ago but their lines remained.

This is after Craig

• took the texture off the ceiling
• primed everything
• painted ceiling and trim white
• painted walls gray

Then I was up. I laid the main tiles Saturday afternoon and Craig helped me cut the rest and place them after the kids went to bed. It is not a square room to say the least (he had a heck of a time leveling that door) which made for a few annoying cuts but working together we got it done by 10pm which made me happy.

Also, funny story (don't you love diy stories that start out that way). We've had this tile in the basement ever since the bathroom project. After I used it there and liked it, I knew I wanted to get more matching tile for this room and since it was on sale and I was worried the pattern would be gone, we got it then, knowing we wouldn't use it for a while. Imagine my surprise when I opened the new box only to discover it was a different pattern. So I had half a box of tile that matched my bathroom and 2 boxes of a similar color scheme but very different pattern. Oh crap! Luckily, I really liked the new stuff, it had bits of grey but also more tan and I think it looked even better in this space than the old stuff. But I was still short about half a box. We tried thinking of a pattern that wouldn't look awkward but eventually Craig ran to Home Depot. And as luck would have it, they not only had it in stock (we had ordered this online) but they had some tiles you could buy loose. He bought all but the last one and we were only out about $15 in the end.  I'm just glad I looked at all three boxes before I had already laid the old. And that the new stuff matched my wall color, because I had color matched it to the old and there is no way Craig was going to repaint if it didn't go.

Then it was time to grout. Because apparently, grouting is what I do when I am 5 months pregnant. And apparently, I always steal Craig's clothes to do it, since I think I am wearing the same shirt of his in both pictures. But it makes sense. I have a very limited maternity wardrobe and there is no way I would risk getting grout on my one pair of maternity shorts. Those things have to last until September at least! But this time. I had more "help" overseeing my work

 

But as of yesterday afternoon:

I love it so far! We still need to trim out the door, put a new light switch and outlet in and then figure out the organizational part to help with the functionality. And I'd love a new light fixture. I know pineapples are a symbol of hospitality but it's not really my style so how about I just say "Welcome" when I open the door. But already it is so much brighter and cleaner. I'm teaching the kids to be very vigilant about shutting the doors because for some reason, the chickens love this space and want nothing more than to poop in it. Which was annoying before but it now strictly forbidden. Because even with a pineapple on the ceiling, poop isn't welcoming to guests. 

Livin' the Dream

When we first saw this house, I fell in love with the backyard and knew I wanted chickens. Flash forward three years and we were finally ready to make it happen! On the one hand, we had a lot of other things going on so it wasn't really the "perfect" year to take on a big project like building a chicken coop but I managed to convince Craig we could buy a coop - until I couldn't find one I liked :-) But by then he was as excited as I was about the chickens so it worked out nicely. Or perhaps that was my evil plan all along, ha ha ha. No really, it wasn't. And we kinda paid for it with stress the last two weeks but if you wait for the perfect time to do something it will never come.

So we bought this plan and got we got the chicks. When I last wrote about them, they looked like this:

So cute

But they don't stay cute and little for long. They start to loose those feathers and get just a tad ugly. And then poppy. I don't mind poop in their home but when they figured out how to get out and started pooping all over my basement, my chicken love was slightly diminished. I'll spare you the pictures.

Luckily, Craig was working diligently on the coop.

He had a bit of bad luck weather wise though so we were getting close to 7 weeks and still no finished coop. A few nice-ish days where the kids could play out back and I could help put up wire and paint plus the added pressure of the electricians coming to work in the basement meant that last week (and one night of Craig working in the rain and me painting a ramp at 9pm with a non-sleeping toddler on my back), it was moving day!

Granted, there was still a bit of painting to do on the outside but when the poor guy who comes to install lights in your basement is being chased around by a flock of inquisitive (but friendly!) chickens, you call it good, chase them around while trying to maintain your dignity and take them outside to their new home.

The chickens, who by the way are cute again with their new feathers and non-basement pooping habits, really seem to like their new home. The first two days, the ramp had them a bit confused so I had to manually put them up at night and lift them down in the morning but soon they had it and now the kids and I check out the window each night and just about the time the kids get their pajamas on, the chickens are starting to file into their hen house.

And we love them. Lucy loves to feed them "chicken salad" which just means she finds clover and dandelion leaves and puts them in the coop for them. Jonah loves everything about them - maybe too much at times :-) and I just get a kick out of sitting in the back yard, reading a book with the kids playing around me and the chickens roaming around pecking and exploring and occasionally coming over to visit. I'm living the dream, y'all, living the dream.

Our new houseguests

They are here! Aren't they cute? The kids certainly think so. Jonah had trouble going to sleep last night because he kept crying "Cheep cheep" and doing the chicken sign.

 Pictures are hard not just because of the red light but I really need an extra hand. I don't quite trust my littlest chicken lover not to be a too rough if I get distracted with the camera. But surprisingly, Lucy has been a bit nervous to touch them, she keeps asking but when I hold them out for her, she changes her mind. I think she's afraid she'll hurt them but maybe tomorrow.

The naming process was also a hard for her, she did not like our suggestions at first but we finally decided that each of us (excluding Jonah) would name one set. If you want to play a little guessing game, can you match the sets to their namers?

Mary and Rakel - Buff Orpingtons

Henrietta and Jane - Silver Laced Wyandottes

Letitia and Rose - Gold Laced Wyandottes

Let the chicken obsessing begin!