Author: Superpaige (Page 32 of 180)

As our little black chicken got bigger and bigger and looking more and more roosterlike, we had to start considering what we were going to do with him.

It was time to stop kidding myself that it was just an “early developer” and admit that we really did have a rooster on our hands. He was starting to get aggressive with the hens and even with us as we went out to feed them. And while I hated getting rid of one of those chicks that we had been raising for the past 3 months, we really didn’t want a rooster.

I decided to put an ad for a rooster online, and see if there were any takers. I was really hoping that someone would WANT a rooster, and not just for dinner. I soon got an email that said,
“We’ll take it if you want to bring it over to us. We don’t need it, but we have plenty of room in our flock if you need a home for it.”
Flock! That sounds better than Freezer! And the address was quite close to us. So, before our first baseball game of the night, we loaded up our little Oreo face and took him over to his new home.

That box held all five of those chicks when we first got them, and now it could barely hold this one!

We drove over to the address, and I told the kids, “If I don’t see or hear any signs of chickens, I’m not leaving him there.”

But as we got farther down the street, we saw horses and even heard a cock-a-doodle-doo as we pulled up to the house. That’s a good sign! There was no answer at the door, but then the guy I had been emailing drove up. “Oh, that’s a beautiful rooster,” he said. He Took Oreo and asked if we wanted to see the chicken area. What a nice man! He led us through the back yard to a field, and there were about 6 hens and a couple of roosters out there, just happy to be pecking around. Oreo, when confronted with other roosters, had to immediately prove he was manly, and the squabbling began. “He’s bigger than our other roosters,” he said, “He might just end up being the one in charge around here.” Oh, that would certainly make him happy. They let their hens go broody, too, so he was pleased at the prospect of ending up with some black chicks (maybe I could get some chicks back from him someday. Some female chicks, that is.)

I felt very happy to be sending him off to such a great home!

Now we have only 6 hens. Three that are a year old, and these three that we got as chicks in Feb. Six is a good number for us right now, and we are happy to send Oreo off to his new happy home.

Since the 16 year old now has her license and is driving a bit, it would be helpful if she had keys to the cars. The old junker cars, I mean.

So I took her to Ace Hardware with both the keys to the old truck and the old camry to make copies so she wouldn’t have to constantly ask her brother if she could use the keys. It went less than smoothly. First of all, the guy couldn’t FIND the key to use for the ’88 Camry. Yes, I said ’88. I know some of you weren’t even alive in ’88, but that’s the year of this car. Finally the girl who was working there (who we happen to know) came over to help him find the right key, and then he worked on making a copy. He managed to copy the key for the ’90 Nissan truck ok, but that Camry key was giving him trouble. He finally turned the job over to the girl.

Meanwhile, my daughter and I had roamed Ace Hardware looking at paint colors, looking at seeds, looking at plants, and they STILL didn’t have it done. I went to go pick up my other daughter from her friend’s house, and came back.

“Is she done with that key, yet?” I asked.
“DANG,’ said the clerk, and threw another key into the trash.
It wasn’t going well, as the key was slightly bent.

“You know,” I said, “it’s a really old car, and it probably doesn’t have to be exact to start it. Why don’t you just give us one of those that you messed up on, and we’ll try it.”
Glad to be rid of us, she gave us one of the failure keys.

Turns out, it’s good enough. It seems to work in the car.

But whey my daughter took the truck today, she says her key turns the car ON, but the radio, and windsheild wipers don’t work with her key.

What? We’ll have to look into that.

So, in honor of old cars everywhere (and specifically one old Camry)…

Linking up with Jenny Matlock for the letter C.

That’s one big wind storm!
Just kidding.

Well, it really WAS a big storm, but that’s not what brought the limb down.

Hubby took them down with a chainsaw.

Those Russian Olive trees are so big and ugly, with huge thorns on them, they are really a junk tree. But, since we don’t have any other trees that are nearly that tall, we do appreciate the shade. But he decided to cut them down a bit so that they looked more like actual trees, not just huge bushy things.

Also, they were cutting down on the sunlight for his little gardening buckets that he had planted. I don’t have pictures of those yet, but I’ll post about the bucket system soon.

Cole and Megan have already taken two trips to the green recycle center with our little truck LOADED with tree branches, and we still aren’t done. Sometimes it would be nicer to have a bigger truck.

But the silhouette of the trees looks SO much better now that they are trimmed.

What a BORING POST! Here I am rambling on about trees! When I should be telling about our wonderful summer vacation! Well, I’m just glad that school is over. We can be done with art projects spread out on the counter for many many hours.

And I hopefully won’t be tripping on the many backpacks that seem to litter the floor and all other surfaces of the kitchen and family room during the school year. I’m banishing the backpacks to THEIR rooms, out of my way.

I like that we see a lot more of this. The kids have time to read, and not just for school. They can immerse themselves in books, and enjoy the lazy summer reading days. I am also enjoying some extra reading time, and I’m halfway through the book 3 WEEKS WITH MY BROTHER by Nicholas Sparks that I started yesterday.

We also get to work on projects. Here is Natalie cutting out fabric for a quilt she is going to be working on this summer.

And here’s Jenna working on some cartoon drawings for friends she likes to make.

Summer. Bring it on.

I always have one or two books I am working on. Usually one for book club, one or two from the library, one or two that were recommended to me, and the list goes on.

Last week I read THE QUEEN OF WATER for book club.

Born in an Andean village in Ecuador, Virginia lives with her large family in a small, earthen-walled dwelling. In her village of indígenas, it is not uncommon to work in the fields all day, even as a child, or to be called a longa tonta—stupid Indian—by members of the ruling class of mestizos, or Spanish descendants. When seven-year-old Virginia is taken from her village to be a servant to a mestizo couple, she has no idea what the future holds.
In this poignant novel based on a true story, acclaimed author Laura Resau has collaborated with María Virginia Farinango to recount one girl’s unforgettable journey to self-discovery. Virginia’s story will speak to anyone who has ever struggled to find his or her place in the world. It will make you laugh and cry, and ultimately, it will fill you with hope.

It was such an inspiring book. I think I need to have my daughters read it.

I also just finished John Grisham’s THE LITIGATORS.

I am not a huge Grisham fan, although I have read a couple of his book. I checked this one out from the library for my Kindle, and it was a good read. A lot of legal language, but enough plot and intrigue for non lawyerly types like myself.

Also in my pile of books are a bunch of half read ones that I have started some time ago, and haven’t gotten around to finishing.

Also on my pile is a big old book for our next book club, The ONCE AND FUTURE KING

I’ve read two pages of it so far. If I’m going to get through this one, I would do well to see if I can get a digital copy on my Kindle, because then it will be with me, and I’ll be more likely to read it.

I’m also almost through the Hunger Games Trilogy.

I don’t generally reread books, and especially not a whole set of books, but after seeing the movie, I kind of wanted to read the book again, and since I have the whole set together on my Kindle, I got sucked into reading the whole set again. Nearly done with that, though, and even if I didn’t finish, it wouldn’t matter, since I already know what happens.

At bells rehearsal this week, we received two books from Deseret Book. The gifts were actually to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, to say thank you for such a great job recording CD’s, but since we are distant relatives in the Choir family, we got books, too.

Then, while garage saleing on Saturday, I cam across TONS of books. I don’t buy a lot of books from bookstores, but when see books that look like good reads for 25 cents or 50 cents each, I am tempted to buy.

The Help I just love, and didn’t own a copy, so I splurged and bought it for $1.00. I’ve given it to my 13 year old to read.
I looked up these other books on goodreads, and a lot of my friends have read them and given them high reviews. I’m halfway through THE LAST LECTURE and it’s a great book so far.

So, I think I’ve got enough to last me through the first month of summer reading, don’t you?

What’s on your nightstand waiting to be read, or what’s your favorite summer read?

I love this picture that John drew at school! Yes, it’s a little crumpled, but it now has a place of honor on my fridge!

Thanks for the flower, John!