tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-243044422024-03-12T21:26:27.616-05:00Maison / SydneyHouse of Sydney, Rich, A & C, Rudolph the Cat, and Five Little ChickensSydneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07128456837064172489noreply@blogger.comBlogger154125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24304442.post-85210270067977185822011-09-10T08:38:00.004-05:002011-09-11T11:47:15.074-05:00Practicing...Practicing with Jing by posting this picture of a Blue Cochin snagged from another website.<br /><a href="http://content.screencast.com/users/SydneyMason/folders/Jing/media/2dc34466-d56d-4d97-bbce-7c81ea5fd17f/Blue%20Cochin.png"><img class="embeddedObject" src="http://content.screencast.com/users/SydneyMason/folders/Jing/media/2dc34466-d56d-4d97-bbce-7c81ea5fd17f/Blue%20Cochin.png" width="247" height="162" border="0" /></a><br />Also a screenshot of the map of our latest bike ride, including the elevation:<br /><a href="http://content.screencast.com/users/SydneyMason/folders/Jing/media/f8f0988a-c58f-4516-bd9c-21a260a9db15/2011-09-10_0945.png"><img class="embeddedObject" src="http://content.screencast.com/users/SydneyMason/folders/Jing/media/f8f0988a-c58f-4516-bd9c-21a260a9db15/2011-09-10_0945.png" width="614" height="566" border="0" /></a><br />And the kids can't wait for this to opne:<br /><a href="http://content.screencast.com/users/SydneyMason/folders/Jing/media/ae6941a1-17d0-40d4-bf80-e3cea1945f48/2011-09-11_1244.png"><img class="embeddedObject" src="http://content.screencast.com/users/SydneyMason/folders/Jing/media/ae6941a1-17d0-40d4-bf80-e3cea1945f48/2011-09-11_1244.png" width="670" height="277" border="0" /></a>Sydneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07128456837064172489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24304442.post-49138743869866365722011-08-07T15:46:00.004-05:002011-08-09T16:48:58.319-05:00Sparks Flew!Imagine 51,000 people, the vast majority of them women and girls. Many of them are wearing either hand-decorated t-shirts, or light summer dresses, cowboy hats and boots. Now imagine them all, screaming as one, or singing along with one huge voice, and you just might have some idea what it was like to be at the Taylor Swift concert at Lincoln Financial Field last night.
<br /><a title="Taylor Swift is coming out soon! by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/6019044690/"><img alt="Taylor Swift is coming out soon!" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6132/6019044690_e67d982666.jpg" width="500" height="374" /></a>
<br />
<br />I bought three tickets for concert way back in February. The plan was that dd and I would go, and dd would pick a friend to join us. Dd asked her good friend from next door, and they both have been counting down the days until the concert for weeks. A few days ago, they had the idea to make special t-shirts.
<br /><a title="Taylor Swift Concert shirts by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/6019041798/"><img alt="Taylor Swift Concert shirts" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6026/6019041798_12b7dc87f2.jpg" width="500" height="374" /></a>
<br />The shirts have a picture of Taylor Swift on the front ...
<br /><a title="Taylor Swift shirts 2 by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/6019043144/"><img alt="Taylor Swift shirts 2" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6010/6019043144_51d69fab2b.jpg" width="500" height="374" /></a>
<br />...and a list of all the girls' favorite T.S. songs on the back. (They also decided to write "Swift" on the top of the back of the shirt, like a sports jersey. Get it? Team Swift?)
<br />
<br />The concert turned out to be amazing, and one of the best shows I have ever seen in my my entire life. It may even be the best show, I am not sure. It was dd's first concert ever--I hope she's not spoiled for life now, LOL.
<br />
<br />The opening acts seemed to go on forever. I guess I am out of practice when it comes to concerts: when I saw the tickets said 7 p.m., I really thought we needed to be there by 7 p.m. Taylor Swift herself did not come on stage until about 8:30 or so, which made for a long wait, broken up by 3 or 4 songs each from a series of country singers. (The last one, <a href="http://www.needtobreathe.net/">NeedtoBreathe</a>, we liked quite a lot, though.)
<br />
<br />When the main show finally began, the crowd came to its feet and the sound of screaming was a palpable, living thing. It was amazing. The show began with words being written on the jumbo screens, and a Taylor Swift voiceover, but I could not really hear what she was saying over the roar of the crowd. Then the singer herself rose up through a trap door in the floor of the stage. She began to sing "Sparks Fly," complete with fireworks shooting from the top of the stage to punctuate the chorus. The crowd was her back-up, singing along with every word.
<br /><a title="Taylor Swift appears by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/6019045844/"><img alt="Taylor Swift appears" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6143/6019045844_77c3c0c99c.jpg" width="500" height="374" /></a>
<br />That's when I realized this was no mere concert. This was going to be something else.
<br />
<br />I still am not sure what to call last night's event. It was not just a concert. It was a <em>show</em> in every sense of the word. The production value was incredible. For every song, there was a dance, or a scene acted out, or a story was told. The band and the dancers were terrific. The staging was beautiful. The costume changes were many.
<br />
<br />For "Back to December," Taylor Swift and a white piano rose from beneath the stage in a glitter snowstorm that captivated the crowd. Dd tapped my shoulder, bouncing and pointing. "The snow is glitter, Mom, it's GLITTER!" For "Haunted," Swift pretended to ring enormous brass bells that eventually were lifted above the stage to reveal dancers suspended beneath them. There was something special in every song of the night. And throughout it all, Taylor Swift seemed as impressed with the huge crowd that sang as one as it was with her. "Philly," she said, more than once, "You're AMAZING."
<br />Sydneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07128456837064172489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24304442.post-10522861003217253362011-08-04T09:06:00.003-05:002011-08-04T14:52:41.113-05:00Monster KnittingPossibly the only thing that did not get done on the mountain vacation was knitting. There was not a lot of sitting around time, and what there was got completely absorbed by the 959-page, 10 pound, A Dance With Dragons, that I dragged around all week (even to Camelbeach!).<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dance-Dragons-Song-Fire-Book/dp/0553801473"></a><br /><br />I knitted a total of 4 rows on the lace edging to my Taygete shawl. That's it.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/6008198939/" title="taygete by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6022/6008198939_6c96166fde.jpg" width="374" height="500" alt="taygete"></a><br />Well, I actually knitted them twice, since the first time I totally messed up. So can I count 8 rows of knitting? Over 300 stitches a row? Maybe not. Oh well.<br /><br />Fortunately, there was a lot more knitting going on at home before we left. Mathboy finished his Loch Ness Monster, from Hansi Singh's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Amigurumi-Knits-Patterns-Cute-Mini/dp/1589234359">Amigurumi Knits</a>, about a month ago.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5910131884/" title="Loch Ness 1 by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5160/5910131884_253235b5a2.jpg" width="475" height="500" alt="Loch Ness 1"></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5910131802/" title="Loch Ness 2 by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5079/5910131802_a1a65aa731.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Loch Ness 2"></a><br />Isn't it adorable? He did everything by himself with this monster. There were several difficult skills that he had to learn, including seaming, picking up stitches, kitchnering, short rows, and i-cord. I was impressed.<br /><br />After he finished that, we were both excited to start some projects out of our newest indulgence: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Big-Book-Knitted-Monsters-Mischievous/dp/1604680091">The Big Book of Knitted Monsters</a>, by Rebecca Danger. <br /><br />I decided to start with Bea the Basement Monster. I figured it would be a great stash-buster pattern, calling for 1 skein of worsted wool and another 1/2 skein in a contrast color for the panel on the bottom of the monster's body. I grabbed a well-marinated skein of dusky purple Plymouth Galway that I found on a sale rack 3(?) years ago, and some leftovers of gorgeous Dream In Color Classy in a hot pink and purple blend called Ruby River, and dove right in. <br /><br />I followed directions, gamely holding two strands of the yarn together and knitting around and around. I watched as the monster got bigger and bigger and the skein got smaller and smaller--and very quickly, too, since I was knitting from both the inside and the outside of the skein at the same time. Suddenly, I found myself scrounging in the cedar chest, hoping I still had another skein of purple Galway (whew! yes!). By the time I bound off the top of the body, Bea was an 18-inch tall monster of a monster! <br /><br />Only then did I think to check Ravelry for other knitters' comments on the pattern. I learned that the pattern contains a pretty major mistake: it's not supposed to be knit double-stranded on size 9s, but rather single stranded on size 7s. The designer calmy told one ravelry user, oops sorry for the confusion. "Confusion?" This is a pretty major mistake, that doubles the amount of yarn you need for the project. It's more than just a little "confusion." There is no errata listed anywhere for the pattern. If you can't access knitter comments on Ravelry, you're out of luck. <br /> <br />No matter. She's huge but she's awesome. She likes to hang out on Dd's bed, because she matches the decor so perfectly. And because she's so big, she's a perfect back rest. <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5939739445/" title="iphone_pic by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6129/5939739445_a75c5ab01f.jpg" width="500" height="374" alt="iphone_pic"></a><br /><br />Mathboy started Lurlene the Laundry Monster, out of a really soft spring green alpaca. As of today, he has finished the body and a couple of her limbs.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/6008236475/" title="lurlene by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6011/6008236475_b818ec0996.jpg" width="500" height="374" alt="lurlene"></a><br />She likes to supervise his piano practicing.Sydneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07128456837064172489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24304442.post-20149898969039361132011-08-04T07:39:00.005-05:002011-08-04T14:51:04.907-05:00X-Treme Mountain Adventure<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/6003898530/" title="MacDade Trail 1 by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6137/6003898530_1e3b37585e.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="MacDade Trail 1"></a><br />Our usual summer vacations involve a lot of sitting. Most years, we rent a house in Ocean City, NJ, where we spend almost every day schlepping our chairs and umbrella and all to the beach, set up, slather the kids with sunscreen and settle down for the day. After a week of this, I typically have gotten through 2 books. There is some jumping of waves and some building of castles in the sand, but generally it's a pretty low-key way to spend a week.<br /><br />This year we shook things up a bit.<br /><br />In the <a href="http://doaneacademy.org/">Doane </a>online auction fundraiser last November, we saw a listing for a week in a 2 bedroom villa at <a href="http://www.fernwoodhotel.com/">Fernwood Resort </a>in Bushkill, in the Poconos, including two rounds of golf. No one had even made an offer yet. We had never been to Fernwood, and did not know anything about it beyond what I was able to find out on the Internet before the auction closed. The money would benefit Doane. The minimum bid was less than $100 a night, even ignoring the fact that Rich and Mathboy would get to play golf twice. How bad could it be? So we took a chance and offered the minimum bid, and we won the auction. <br /><br />We did not know what the place was going to be like, but it seemed as if there were a lot of fun things to do in the area. We were determined to take full advantage. So last week, with Dd's friend ready to watch over the chickens in our absence, we packed our bags and drove off.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/6003900094/" title="Cat wants to come too! by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6001/6003900094_9a9e5f6f3f.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Cat wants to come too!"></a><br />The cat tried to come with us.<br /><br />We arrived in Bushkill along with some very gray skies. We couldn't check in yet, and that was the day we had planned to hike through <a href="http://www.visitbushkillfalls.com/">Bushkill Falls</a>. As soon as we finished eating our picnic lunch at the Bushkill Falls site, it started to pour. Mind you, it had barely rained in weeks--now that we were starting our outdoor vacation, the skies open up? It seemed pretty unfair. We were also getting worried, because our first glimpse of the Fernwood resort was pretty depressing. Grim, even. We tried to wait out the rain, but after an hour of browsing the gift shop and reading in the covered picnic area, we decided to just go ahead and do it anyway. <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/6008075321/" title="At Bushkill Falls in the rain by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6122/6008075321_fbe3540c8e.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="At Bushkill Falls in the rain"></a><br />This is the only picture from Bushkill Falls that turned out to be any good. It's hard to take pictures in the rain! I didn't want my iPhone to get wet, and my Nikon kept trying to flash. Sheesh. Such a gorgeous, amazing place, and I have one picture.<br /><br />After we got totally soaked at Bushkill falls, we drove back to Fernwood to check in, and we finally got to see our home for the next week. The villa was great! The kids had a loft with twin beds, we had a full kitchen, a jacuzzi tub and all sorts of amenities. It was the perfect place to serve as our home base for our X-Treme Mountain Adventure. (What a relief! I really was starting to think we had made a dreadful mistake.)<br /><br />On Tuesday, Mathboy had decided that we should hike up to the <a href="http://www.nps.gov/dewa/planyourvisit/hikes-tammany.htm">top of the New Jersey side of the Delaware Water Gap</a>, and we said okay with the optimism and hubris that only people who have climbed <a href="http://www.midatlantichikes.com/id155.html">Old Rag</a> in the Shenandoah National Park can have. After all, if we made it up <a href="http://www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisit/old_rag.htm">Old Rag</a>, we can do anything right?<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/6003353429/" title="Mt Tammany 2 by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6144/6003353429_a0117f82e3.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="Mt Tammany 2"></a><br />Oh. My. God. After a couple of hours of this, we realized that the days of hiking Old Rag may be behind us. We persevered, and reaped our reward.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/6003899498/" title="View from half up Mt. Tammany by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6147/6003899498_ee97f155ea.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="View from half up Mt. Tammany"></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/6003899704/" title="View from Indian Head 1 by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6136/6003899704_d8fd209eb1.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="View from Indian Head 1"></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/6003351985/" title="View from Indian Head 4 by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6005/6003351985_2a0c0b4c0f.jpg" width="500" height="374" alt="View from Indian Head 4"></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/6003897232/" title="View from Indian Head 5 by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6016/6003897232_0bf3a43c61.jpg" width="374" height="500" alt="View from Indian Head 5"></a><br />This spectacular view of the Delaware Water Gap, from Indian Head at the top of Mount Tammany.<br /><br />After we hiked back down (using the not so steep side of the mountain), we stopped in at <a href="http://www.nps.gov/dewa/planyourvisit/kp.htm">Kittatinny Point</a>, and enjoyed our picnic lunch and a soothing wade in the Delaware River.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/6003897994/" title="Delaware water gap wading by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6004/6003897994_7b5072550f.jpg" width="500" height="374" alt="Delaware water gap wading"></a><br /><br />The rest of the week included more hiking, through hills and swampy forests ...<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/6003899038/" title="PEEC 1 by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6131/6003899038_4f8ef0fc42.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="PEEC 1"></a><br />...fording streams...<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/6003896468/" title="PEEC Stream by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6012/6003896468_e73cb69f76.jpg" width="500" height="374" alt="PEEC Stream"></a><br />...rapelling down steep ridges ...<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/6003898888/" title="PEEC rapel line by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6146/6003898888_7086bff747.jpg" width="332" height="500" alt="PEEC rapel line"></a><br />...and following old rail lines between the river and the soybean fields.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/6003896184/" title="MacDade Trail 2 by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6008/6003896184_2ffc795b7a.jpg" width="500" height="374" alt="MacDade Trail 2"></a><br /><br />While the guys played golf two mornings, dd got her first real horseback ride.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/6003352637/" title="Fernwood horse ride by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6138/6003352637_6b3989179f.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="Fernwood horse ride"></a><br />This is Phantom. <br /><br />We also got to spend a day at <a href="http://www.camelbeach.com/">Camelbeach Water Park</a>, where Rich and I finally got to sit in those beach chairs for a day. We did ride a few water slides with the kids, but the beauty of having older kids is that you don't need to hold their hands all the time. (And I had a big book that I wanted to get through! It took me the whole vacation to finish <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dance-Dragons-Song-Fire-Book/dp/0553801473">A Dance With Dragons</a>.)<br /><br />We also got in a day of kayaking down the Delaware River, which was so relaxing.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/6003352537/" title="kayaking 1 by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6018/6003352537_9f1acffbe4.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="kayaking 1"></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/6003895080/" title="kayaking 4 by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6023/6003895080_15799316fc.jpg" width="500" height="374" alt="kayaking 4"></a><br />We liked that so much, that we want to look into getting some boats of our own, and a rack for the top of the car.<br /><br />On the last day, I went to the outlets while Rich and the kids did the Treetop Rope Courses at <a href="http://www.cbkmountainadventures.com/attractions/tree-top-adventure-course.aspx">CBK Adventures</a>. After 3 and 1/2 hours of climbing and sliding and ziplining, the kids came down with smiles and Rich came down with his arms shaking. It was quite a work out! Then it was time to go home.Sydneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07128456837064172489noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24304442.post-61310841395918527832011-07-06T16:36:00.008-05:002011-07-06T20:15:40.137-05:00Plenty<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5910130110/" title="cans a'plenty by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6009/5910130110_492650fddd.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="cans a'plenty"></a><br />I felt like a farm wife today. Or should I say Home Farm Wife? Whatever. In my efforts to find new and exciting ways to use up the endless zucchini bounty, I dug out my canner and my canning book, and proceeded to "put up" 5 jars of zucchini relish. As long as I had the thing out and filled, I got 6 pints of blueberries from <a href="http://www.johnsonsfarm.com/">Johnson's Farm</a>, down the street, and went crazy. Five jars of blueberry syrup and 5 jars of blueberry butter later, I decided to go out and see what the home farm had to offer me today.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5909573425/" title="Today's bounty by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5239/5909573425_a634ab3201.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Today's bounty"></a><br />How about a pound of green beans and another zucchini? (I also got 2 heads of lettuce, but forgot to take a picture of them before washing them and putting them away.) You know, I think there may be a reason why they call New Jersey the Garden State....<br /><br />We have reached the point in the summer where the garden is really starting to do its part, paying us back for all the watering and weeding we have done. The green beans have already supplied 4 or 5 dinners worth of veggies, not counting today's haul, and I have 6 zucchini in the refrigerator right now, even though I used 4 to make zucchini relish this morning. And there are several more on the vines that are nearly ready.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5909572733/" title="zucchini by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6052/5909572733_4809ceb3db.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="zucchini"></a><br />Thank goodness I only planted 2 zucchini plants this spring! <br /><br />The kohlrabi should be ready soon, and the broccoli are almost big enough to pick. I've already made a huge batch of basil pesto, and a "huger" batch of kale pesto. And I sent dd out to pick the 2 biggest peppers she could find this morning, so I could cut them up for the relish I was making. <br /><br />(By the way, can I say how COOL it feels to send your kid out to the garden to bring back food? I am not sure why, but it's just great. Here, hon, go out to the garden and fill this basket with basil. Awesome. I am such a weirdo.)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5909572125/" title="DSCN2342 by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5236/5909572125_baec3d11b5.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="DSCN2342"></a><br />The acorn squash plants are like giant mutant bushes. We have 5, and each of them has 4 or 5 sqaushes that look like they could be ready to pick very soon. But I don't know what to do with so many acorn squashes already! It's only July! I expected to be harvesting them at the end of August, and stashing them in a crate in the basement for several weeks, or something like that. Isn't that what Ma and Laura and Mary did? (Except I do have an extra mini-fridge down there--ah, the benefits of modern life.)<br /><br />We are doing our best to protect the plants from the varmints. Rich's fence goes all the way around, and the pretty wooden gates go all the way down to the ground. But there are these super-teeny-weeny bunnies that have no problem getting through the fence, and apparently they have a taste for edamame, of all things. I planted 8 edamame bushes this spring. They are down to sticks now. The amazing thing is that they are in the middle of the garden--row 3 out of 8. These bunnies bypass the tomatoes, turn their cute little noses up at the lettuce, snub the kale and the broccoli, and head for the edamame. But I worry what these tiny Asian-peapod-lovers will start to go after once the edamame are all gone.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5909572911/" title="garden 3 by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5319/5909572911_5a280eec66.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="garden 3"></a><br />Right now, the garden is a study in contrasts. I planted the veggies in rows in the back half. Rich is sculpting the front half to be more of a decorative garden. The veggies have grown to monster sizes in the back. Rich's front part is still barren, but he is making definite progress.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5910131418/" title="garden 2 by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6054/5910131418_ddcab2cc95.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="garden 2"></a><br /><br />In the fall, I look forward to posting a picture that would show some of the late season veggie crops still going in the back of the garden, along with Rich's flowers blooming in the front. It will look great!Sydneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07128456837064172489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24304442.post-33070518869016614592011-06-21T15:18:00.002-05:002011-06-21T15:23:56.226-05:00Things I Learned on my Bike in the past week<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5857390527/" title="IMG_0466 by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3239/5857390527_d6159ab1f9.jpg" width="500" height="374" alt="IMG_0466"></a><br />1. It's hard to take a picture while you are pedaling.<br /><br />2. Familiarize yourself with the garbage schedule of the towns you plan to ride through. It's no fun weaving between stinky cans and garbage trucks.<br /><br />3. On some roads, you need to keep your mouth shut while riding, unless you like to get additional protein from eating bugs. <br /><br />4. Even with my fancy new gel-techno-padded bike shorts, I still dread the moment when I get up from the bike seat and all the blood rushes back to my butt. Ouch!<br /><br />5. I'm not a kid anymore. :oPSydneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07128456837064172489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24304442.post-71259133066157683362011-06-10T13:30:00.001-05:002011-06-10T13:32:02.986-05:00Too Darn Hot<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5817466651/" title="its hot out there! by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2784/5817466651_12a12361fe.jpg" width="373" height="500" alt="its hot out there!"></a>Sydneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07128456837064172489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24304442.post-2374849805327634342011-05-20T10:48:00.003-05:002011-05-20T11:58:18.818-05:00Fun timesI have become a very inconsistent blogger. Here I am, with another monthly update, and I find myself overwhelmed with all the pictures I have to post and the events to report. This is why I really should write more regularly.<br /><br />We had a wonderful visit with Rich's family on Kiawah Island, SC over Easter. The Saturday before Easter, we were on the beach all day. It just felt so weird to be swimming in the ocean, before Easter. The water was warm. The sun was strong--too strong for this New Jersey family, apparently, as we ended up having to take dd to the doctor for sun poisioning after a few days. But still, a good time was had by all.<br /><a title="Encamped for the day by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5740082954/"><img alt="Encamped for the day" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2532/5740082954_38f3eb6694.jpg" width="500" height="333" /></a><br /><a title="Leslie and Frank by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5740082864/"><img alt="Leslie and Frank" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2786/5740082864_2239c94e24.jpg" width="500" height="333" /></a><br /><br />Some tough poker games were played.<br /><a title="Tough poker game 1 by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5740096978/"><img alt="Tough poker game 1" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2196/5740096978_bf2f088da2.jpg" width="500" height="374" /></a><br /><br />Many books were read.<br /><a title="fun at kiawah by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5740096674/"><img alt="fun at kiawah" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2318/5740096674_e7e9302c94.jpg" width="500" height="374" /></a><br /><br />Mathboy and his cousin got pretty good at managing the ocean kayaks in the waves.<br /><a title="Ocean kayak by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5740083002/"><img alt="Ocean kayak" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2591/5740083002_14cfbfcafa.jpg" width="500" height="333" /></a><br /><a title="kayaking the waves by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5740082796/"><img alt="kayaking the waves" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2204/5740082796_ba7538cc9e.jpg" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Kiawah is so gorgeous, so totally different from the shores that we are used to up here in the northeast. This is the path out to the beach.<br /><a title="path to the beach by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5740096492/"><img alt="path to the beach" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2721/5740096492_bdda7842ce.jpg" width="500" height="374" /></a><br /><br />This is what we saw from the balcony of our room.<br /><a title="View from our balcony 1 by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5740082760/"><img alt="View from our balcony 1" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3425/5740082760_78893948e6.jpg" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />And then we had to come back to New Jersey and reality. Mathboy and I came home early, by plane, because his school was already back in session and because he had to get ready for the AP Chemistry exam. Even though we had a great trip, Easter break wasn't really long enough to recharge everyone's batteries, though. The kids are really looking forward to the end of the year.<br /><br />It was very frustrating that the kids' schools have had different schedules so often this year. At least that won't be a problem next year: dd has been accepted at Mathboy's school. Hooray! It's going to be great having them together, in the same school, for the first time in 6 years. No more OLGC school for us, only Doane Academy. Hm, that means I better get dd signed up for CCD, though, doesn't it?<br /><br />The past few weeks have been spent in a haze of baseball, softball, cardboard boat building, and trying to get the garden going. Mathboy played on the Doane baseball team this year, and hopefully learned some valuable lessons in patience and realizing that one has to work one's way up in high school sports.<br /><br />Everyone got to bat when the Doane team played Solebury School (yes, my old school), at the Trenton Thunder stadium a few weeks ago.<br /><a title="Batter up! by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5739257157/"><img alt="Batter up!" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3005/5739257157_acec3b88e9.jpg" width="500" height="375" /></a><br />It was really neat to see the guys out on that beautiful field.<br /><br />Dd has been learning the same lesson on the school softball team, but at least she has the town rec league team as well. Rich is coaching dd's rec team, and he says it is a wonderful group of girls. So far, their record is 6-4-1, which is pretty good! Dd is still focusing on pitching, which she wants to practice everyday.<br /><br /><a title="garden at 2 weeks of age by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5739529689/"><img alt="garden at 2 weeks of age" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5230/5739529689_6cd327a2a4.jpg" width="500" height="375" /></a><br />The seedlings have all been planted, and Rich is woprking on finishing the fence in front. We've planted winter squash, kohlrabi, cabbage, kale, sweet peppers, edamame, snow peas, green beans, broccoli, scallions, quinoa, beets, chard, and lots and lots of lettuce. We also have 14 tomato plants, including Burbank Slicing and Japanese Momotaro heirloom varieties.<br /><a title="Tomato seedling by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5740082050/"><img alt="Tomato seedling" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3180/5740082050_f45d09e36d.jpg" width="500" height="333" /></a><br />I am very excited to see the tomatoes from these plants (the Momotaro seeds were about 25 cents each!), but I am wondering if I may have gone overboard planting 14.... I may be canning a lot of sauce.<br /><br />Right now, I am just keeping my fingers crossed that everything does OK, because I already have several weeks of seed-nurturing behind me already. Half of the winter squash seedlings did not look so good this morning. I wonder if they got crushed by heavy rain last night. Gulp.<br /><br />The kale is for the chickens. They love it.<br /><a title="kale rocks! by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5739529757/"><img alt="kale rocks!" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2036/5739529757_73359139d9.jpg" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />While Rich and I were slaving away in the garden over the past few Sundays, Mathboy and a friend from school were building this:<br /><a title="Cardboard boat by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5739807816/"><img alt="Cardboard boat" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3518/5739807816_d584408558.jpg" width="500" height="219" /></a><br />A cardboard boat, for a regatta that Doane is hosting next Friday. Stay tuned, and I'll let you know whether they make it aacross Liberty Lake in this conglomeration of broken down liquor store boxes, Gorilla Glue and duct tape.Sydneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07128456837064172489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24304442.post-86825401195701274372011-04-05T09:30:00.007-05:002011-04-05T10:46:40.295-05:00Who'd a'thought?Last night, I came downstairs from folding the laundry and Rich was watching TV. He had paused the screen, saving something for me to see. "Watch this," he said. "You'll never believe it. We're part of A Movement." <br /><br />It turned out to be a commercial, I don't remember for what, but it talked about the "Home Farming Movement," and showed people happily tending a few tomato plants, in perfect rows, in perfect black dirt, with children cheerfully helping. We're at the forefront of a Movement with a capital "M." How'd that happen? <br /><br />Rich said he felt like <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01NHcTM5IA4">Crocodile Dundee</a>, looking at the tiny garden plot depicted in the commercial. "That's not a home farm," he said and pointed out the window. "Now <em>that's</em> a home farm." <br /><a title="The future garden by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5592289780/"><img alt="The future garden" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5267/5592289780_d793b52690.jpg" width="500" height="375" /></a> <br />We don't have perfect black dirt and even rows of weed-free plants, and our children don't cheerfully pitch in with big smiles on their faces, but it's definitely looking like a Home Farm. <br /><br />Rich has been working on the fence since last fall. The big swingset was taken away a few weeks ago by a family down the street with young children who will appreciate it. (That family deserves it so much more than we do: they spent a good week sanding it down, power washing it and painting it. I can see it in their backyard when I drive by, and it looks brand new.) And this past weekend, Rich borrowed a rototiller from a neighbor and cut up the sod and weeds within the fence. That's almost 2000 square feet of future garden space, people. (Or should I say Home Farm Space? I need to remember we're on the cutting edge.) <br /><br />Now we just need to rake up all the clods of grass, get some topsoil delivered, and layout the actual rows within the fence. Gee, that's all? So far, I raked about a quarter of the space. It's pretty tough going--certainly more of an upper body workout that I am used to. This farming thing might turn out to be hard work, you know. <br /><br />I did the easy part though: I order lots of seeds, and got a bunch started. <a title="Seedlings by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5591698771/"><img alt="Seedlings" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5177/5591698771_3cf074ab68.jpg" width="500" height="375" /></a> <br />I've started seeds for tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, kale, choi and broccoli, and I have to start some more soon. But at this point, the only things our Home Farm is producing is lettuce... <br /><a title="Lettuce by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5591699157/"><img alt="Lettuce" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5070/5591699157_697453717a.jpg" width="500" height="375" /></a> <br />...because I bought this awesome pot at Home Depot, and, of course, eggs. <br /><a title="Jackie by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5592290362/"><img alt="Jackie" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5183/5592290362_d07192e2fb.jpg" width="500" height="373" /></a> <br />All the little banties have taken a break from laying since early February, but Jackie (above) and Daisy have kept going, each of them giving us about 5 big brown eggs a week. Lenten Friday dinners have been yummy souffles and quiches, courtesy of the two Big Girls. I have to wonder what kind of sacrifice we are making, giving up meat for Friday, when the alternatives are so luxurious and delicious? <br /><br />I am hoping that the banties will start laying again soon, now that the days are getting longer and spring seems to be here for real. We need to snap Lily out of being broody. <br /><a title="Broody Lily by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5592290536/"><img alt="Broody Lily" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5110/5592290536_29689cf4f4.jpg" width="500" height="375" /></a> <br />She's been sitting in the nesting box, warming nonexistent eggs, for about 6 weeks now, and I don't think that is good for her health. <br /><br />For the entire month of March, both Lily and Audrey sat in the nesting boxes, while the other three enjoyed exploring the fenced in garden area. We started calling them the 3 Musketeers. Then Audrey snapped out of her broodiness and joined the group, so now they are the Four Musketeers. <br /><br />Melanie hasn't done the broody thing at all, which is surprising. <br /><a title="Melanie poses by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5592290662/"><img alt="Melanie poses" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5308/5592290662_6ef2d6647a.jpg" width="500" height="469" /></a> <br />I'm not complaining--I hate it when they go broody--but it is interesting that she hasn't felt the call to sit on a nest. <br /><br />Now that we are getting ready to make the fenced in area into a real garden--I mean Home Farm--the chickens can't go in there anymore, so we are going to snake some wire fencing through the woods near the coop and let them wander in there. We think this will be much better for them than a fenced in pasture-type area, because there is lots of fun stuff to dig around in. Also, because we are going to attach in to the coop, they will be allowed to walk in and out, so they can go in on their own if it rains and if they need to go lay an egg. All in all, it's a much better situation than what they have had before, and it's a far cry from the confinement they dealt with during the snow of January. <br /><br />Right now, I have the wire fencing temporarily placed, but I have not secured it to the ground very well. As a result, I keep looking out the window and finding Daisy outside the enclosure and trying to figure out how to get back in. <br /><a title="Daisy Houdini by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5592290610/"><img alt="Daisy Houdini" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5023/5592290610_3849c2cdf9.jpg" width="500" height="376" /></a> <br />We have taken to calling her Daisy Houdini. I don't know how she is getting out, and I need to before I make this fencing more permanent! <br /><br />In other news: <br /><br />1. We survived two school plays. The plays were very good, but the last few weeks of practices before their respective performance weekends were completely and totally exhausting for the entire household. I am not sure I am cut out to be a Stage Mom. <br /><br />2. Hot Pink shawl complete! <br /><a title="Celaeno 1 by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5591699031/"><img alt="Celaeno 1" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5092/5591699031_e341d25dd3.jpg" width="500" height="375" /></a> <a title="Celaeno 2 by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5592289398/"><img alt="Celaeno 2" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5223/5592289398_e8156dfa2c.jpg" width="500" height="375" /></a> <br />It's gorgeous, but will I have the guts to wear something this bright? Maybe I should have thought of that before I started knitting it?Sydneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07128456837064172489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24304442.post-64003162603391070472011-03-14T12:10:00.003-05:002011-03-14T15:45:37.607-05:00It's Baseball time again...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj17Jdpq5qpWgZkDeFE5p-6ZEeQBtzUEcBQiMKoG3j8rT6MdLh0Mvhe-8KZJ8U9LusincM15oojk-k7x3D6znwUAmPCeQWw576x_9sc1-tY_nBl7l5E11rvx9eHe7QUr9fZqsm2/s1600/IMG_0328.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj17Jdpq5qpWgZkDeFE5p-6ZEeQBtzUEcBQiMKoG3j8rT6MdLh0Mvhe-8KZJ8U9LusincM15oojk-k7x3D6znwUAmPCeQWw576x_9sc1-tY_nBl7l5E11rvx9eHe7QUr9fZqsm2/s400/IMG_0328.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5584039583966363874" /></a><br /><br />Even Rudolph is excited about it.<br /><div></div>Sydneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07128456837064172489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24304442.post-41625231221751571172011-03-11T15:53:00.007-05:002011-03-11T16:20:02.449-05:00De-BlingingCatgirl and I have very different taste in clothes. That probably doesn’t surprise you, does it? After all she is 12 and I am … not. Of course we like to wear different things. I would be a little frightened if we liked the same clothes. There would be something the matter with one of us, if that were the case. That's not the issue that I am writing about here. We do run into difficulties, however, is because I would like her to wear different clothes than the ones she would prefer to wear. And isn’t that one of the basic issues facing all mothers and daughters?<br /><br />When Catgirl was a baby or a toddler, I could dress her the way I wanted her to look. She was like a doll. A crying, tantrum-throwing doll sometimes, but that’s all water under the bridge, now, thank God. Sometime around kindergarten-age, Catgirl started to get picky about what she would wear. By the time she was in 3rd grade, I realized that it was pointless for me to shop for clothes for her without having her with me. If I bought something she didn‘t like, it would end up being a big waste of money. She simply would not wear it. Things would end up in the garage sale or donation piles, outgrown but still in new or nearly new condition.<br /><br />That was the year we discovered <a href="http://www.shopjustice.com/">Justice</a>. In general, the clothes there are a heckuva lot more busy than I personally prefer, and they have a lot of animal prints which I despise. But Catgirl and I usually could find something there we could agree on. And the frequent 40% coupons they send in the mail don’t hurt. The discovery of that store marked the beginning of a period of détente in the clothing wars between Catgirl and me.<br /><br />Fast forward to October 2010: Catgirl is in 6th grade. Catgirl has always been a sucker for super-soft sweats and anything with fur. Well, ok. We found this heavy sweatshirt, with a furry fleece interior, fur trim, and blingy initials on the front at a <a href="http://www.aeropostale.com/shop/index.jsp?categoryId=3534620&002=2440777&004=371301108&005=5731761291&006=293478793&009=e&011=p.s.%20for%20kids">P.S</a>. store, and she fell in love with it.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFQwM8Y2t1N8btWF9wQQjTA7e03libjbA5yaWXWy_zx-4HqV-ABsXAXCJInoFAesbbzUPNufGfW7sYwhmnjiJ3l1GvcEuwpXTiR_HxAJPK3kqFzCiz7WqVTQn4B6cmdeYo3p-6/s1600/IMG_0321.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 239px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5582932046383793106" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFQwM8Y2t1N8btWF9wQQjTA7e03libjbA5yaWXWy_zx-4HqV-ABsXAXCJInoFAesbbzUPNufGfW7sYwhmnjiJ3l1GvcEuwpXTiR_HxAJPK3kqFzCiz7WqVTQn4B6cmdeYo3p-6/s320/IMG_0321.jpg" /></a> We negotiated, and it ended up being a birthday present. She wore it every day for a few weeks, and then it just got forgotten.<br /><br />Last week, I pulled it out of the closet and pointed out that it’s the right season for this weight of a jacket again. Would she like to wear it?<br /><br />She got that expression that all parents have seen at some point. You know the one; like they are hearing fingernails going down a chalkboard? And she said, “Mom … it’s kind of … little-kiddish.”<br /><br />My little girl is growing up. She growing out of Bling.<br /><br />And what a difference six months makes, hm? When we bought this jacket in October, she was still enamored of the rhinestones and sequins, like so many of the clothes at Justice. But the last few times we tried to find her some nice church clothes there, we left without liking anything. Justice has been getting more and more bejeweled lately, while Catgirl has started preferring plainer things. Plain tops are more her style now. When she was little, she loved dresses, but now all she wants to wear are pants. It's been interesting watching her tastes change.<br /><br />But back to the jacket. Just like when she was little and I used to buy clothes that she ended up boycotting, I am looking at a perfectly good jacket that is going to end up being sold or donated in nearly new condition. Just like all those years ago, I am not so happy about that. So i am trying an experiment.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlYx-1tt1h6NAFKd_vbbn5T1rLUIAWOBSbk0AYnQZnopvQQEa4-cstpJAr2utBc_plCcxLHItpsFcpdLmEnUHYK7ryDqxaaQSCv8Ki3-tWjbtjxIDAkXvz8mbBGVxnh7AKq4tq/s1600/IMG_0324.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 239px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5582931599316971474" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlYx-1tt1h6NAFKd_vbbn5T1rLUIAWOBSbk0AYnQZnopvQQEa4-cstpJAr2utBc_plCcxLHItpsFcpdLmEnUHYK7ryDqxaaQSCv8Ki3-tWjbtjxIDAkXvz8mbBGVxnh7AKq4tq/s320/IMG_0324.jpg" /></a> I am de-blinging the jacket. I got out my sharpest sewing scissors, and I am painstakingly cutting the threads holding the appliques and the beads and the rhinestones on this jacket, and, so far, so good. There will probably remain some indication that the letters were there, but at least the sparklies will be gone, and hopefully that will make it less "little kiddish."<br /><br />The crazy thing is that this bling probably accounts for about half of the original value of this jacket, and I am cutting it off and throwing it away. (I just hope that this stuff wasn't all sewn on by some poor child in a Third World nation. Maybe we should have thought of that when we bought it though, hm?) But if it makes it wearable again for Catgirl, it's worth it.Sydneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07128456837064172489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24304442.post-38190023630349859372011-03-08T17:10:00.013-05:002011-03-11T16:26:09.106-05:00Frozen Chicken Poop Doesn't Stick to Your BootsBut, at this point, that's about the only good thing I can say about winter. We've certainly had enough of it around here, and we are very ready for Spring.<br /><br />The chickens hijacked the blog for the month of February. Boredom and the short days of winter conspired against us to make for some very crabby poultry. There were many demonstrations of a chickie nature, and it was much feared that the price of eggs would increase substantially, as most of the hens went on a labor strike and refused to lay eggs. I am happy to report that I wrested control back, through utter ruthless efforts to distract them with oatmeal, cabbage, and a new area to explore. The weather has also come to our aid, and the simple fact that the days are getting longer. Thank goodness.<br /><a title="Daisy by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5515466285/"><img alt="Daisy" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5179/5515466285_70528bc06e.jpg" width="374" height="500" /></a><br />It is so hard to get good pictures of the chickens, because they move too darn fast, believe it or not. This is Daisy, the only chicken who has figured out the "chicken IQ test" that I have been using to keep them in their new pen area (see below)<br /><br />It's finally warming up around here, which is cheering us all up, after our winter's hibernation. This week, I started our first round of seeds--the plants that need to be started 6 to 8 weeks before the last expected frost. I have a bunch more to start in another 3 weeks or so. It's exciting! Is it dorky that I am so excited? Probably. Rich put a quick, temporary fence on the front of most of the garden area, so that we can let the chickens run around in there.<br /><a title="Garden by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5516057172/"><img alt="Garden" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5132/5516057172_96692c3e8d.jpg" width="500" height="374" /></a><br />It gives them a lot more space to explore than they have had for the past few months. I've got the old chicken tractor propped against the open gateway, and that keeps them in, although daisy has figured out that sometimes she can squeeze around the tractor. Rich has a beautiful, real wooden gate that we probably will hang this weekend. And sometime in the next month or two, we plan to borrow a rototiller from a neighbor and get it ready to be a real garden. Sorry chickens.<br /><br />I know it's been a long time since I written a blog entry, but we only had "little stuff" going on around here. Not the most exciting fodder to write about, if you know what I mean. Maybe I could make it all more interesting by writing in headlines? Or writing like those teasers they use for upcoming news stories?<br /><br /><strong>Health<em> news</em></strong>: Mathboy's biopsy was a stressful event for all of us, but the good news is that they did not find anything pathological to explain his protein problem. But this is one of those times when no news was good news. The doctor believes it must be "minimal change" syndrome, and prescribed medication to treat that, and we will continue to monitor the situation in case it is a precursor or a very early symptom of more serious kidney problems.<br /><br />Mathboy got contacts this month, too. Actually, I should say that he got a contact, as it turns out he only needs correction in one eye. He's 20/20 in his left eye and 20/80 in the right eye. Oh, so that's why he's been dropping all those pop flies. He had no depth perception. Oops. I had to really persuade the eye doctor to give him a prescription, because apparently the one good eye does a fine enough job that she thought he could get by. But she hadn't seen him on a baseball field lately. So now he has one contact that he wears for sports only, and the difference in his ability to see the ball, and his confidence in his ability to catch the ball, is <em>tremendous</em>.<br /><br />Mathboy also gets his braces off this month. We're excited to see him without metal in his mouth for the first time in 2 and 1/2 years.<br /><br /><em><strong>Exercise news?</strong></em> Yeah, well, Mathboy and I have not been out running for a very long time. I have been making due with the elliptical trainer and Mathboy has been taking it easy. However, I do want to get back to running when the weather is better. In the meantime, when I recently visited Mom and Bill, I took their dog out for a walk and tried to get him into a bit of a run. Well....<br /><br />Dear Readers: I outran an Australian Sheep Dog. He's a terribly out of shape Australian sheep dog, but still.... I guess I'm not that bad after all.<br /><br /><strong><em>Sports news</em>:</strong> A sure sign of Spring, baseball and Softball seasons are beginning. Mathboy is playing for his school this year, which means it is the first year he has not been involved with Mount Laurel Baseball since Spring, 2004, when he played T-Ball. It's the end of an era. On the other hand, Rich has volunteered to be coach for Catgirl's softball team. Yes, the crazy is strong in our family.<br /><br /><strong><em>In home news</em>:</strong> Rich and Sydney's new king-sized Mattress is super comfy, but ridiculously huge and very expensive. Perhaps it would have been cheaper to buy a kids' bouncy house to sleep in, and it might have been easier to get that up the stairs. It took 3 guys to wrestle our new mattress--rolled up like a giant latex stromboli--up the stairs. I couldn't watch; I was sure they were going to break something. Later, Rich mused that it must be a turning point in your life when you buy a bed that costs more than your first car did.<br /><br />It was Musical Mattresses that weekend, as we moved our old queen to Mathboy's room (so we can use his room as a guest room when we have company) and his old twin to Catgirl's room (because his mattress was better than hers). Mathboy has been growing so fast that it's hard to keep up, and he needed something a little bigger.<br /><br /><strong><em>More home news</em>:</strong> I discover mad locksmithing skillz, replacing broken doorknobs. For the first time in 10 years, the family now has a key that will open the knob for the front door. Next up for me: channelling my inner plumber, as we have 2 sink traps that need replacing. I've done it before, so I know how to do it, but <em>man</em>, do I hate squeezing under the vanity.<br /><br /><strong><em>Coming up in Kid News for March</em>:</strong> Mathboy and Catgirl discover the hard way that being in a school play eats up all their spare time, and then some. They are going to have to clone themselves to be able to attend baseball and softball practice over the next two weeks.<br /><br /><strong><em>Music news</em>:</strong> Sydney spent the month of February loading all her parents' CDs into an iTunes library. Turns out that is quite a job. Mom and Bill never met a soundtrack or compilation that they didn't like, LOL. They now have been reunited with a collection spanning 20 years, and things sound good in their house again. Turn off that TV, Mom, and groove to the iPod.<br /><br /><strong><em>Cat news</em>:</strong> Rudolph is the only one not looking forward to Spring, because it means there will be no more fires in the fireplace for him to sleep in front of. The only good thing about Spring is that it is one step closer to Summer: the season when kids go in and out frequently and give him several chances a day to escape and play with his friends outside, the Ticks.<br /><a title="IMG_0283 by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5515490991/"><img alt="IMG_0283" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5018/5515490991_0a105fb73f.jpg" width="500" height="374" /></a><br />(If we could only teach him how to sit like a real cat, that would be awesome. And maybe he could do some vacuuming?)<br /><br />And now to the best part, the <strong>Knitting news:</strong> I did a crazy thing recently. I have been knitting socks since I taught myself how in 2006. I learned how using info from Wendy Johnson, and I learned to do them toe-up, because that was the way Wendy did them. (She might do them differently now, I am not sure.) Anyway, after 4 years and maybe 25 or 30 pairs of toe-up socks, I threw caution to the wind this January and ... cast on a pair of top-down socks. I know, I know. Maybe I should have made sure you were all sitting down before I just came out and said that.<br /><br />Here they are:<br /><a title="nemesis socks by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5407636268/"><img alt="nemesis socks" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5218/5407636268_64f69de6ce.jpg" width="374" height="500" /></a><br />This is the <a href="http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEdf10/PATTnemesis.php">Nemesis </a>pattern from Knitty, in the Tosca colorway of <a href="http://www.yarn.com/webs-knitting-crochet-yarns-new/webs-knitting-crochet-yarns-hand-painted-knitting-yarns-donegal-sock/">Handpainted Donegal Sock Yarn</a>, which I bought at <a href="http://www.woolbearers.com/">Woolbearers</a>. The socks turned out great! I even did OK with the kitchenering for the toes. I used to say <a href="http://maisonsydney.blogspot.com/2010/01/kitchener-is-my-nemesis.html">kitchener stitch was my nemesis </a>(an odd coincidence with the name of this sock pattern, no?), but I'm getting better. They are very comfortable and fit great. When I wear them in boots (which is pretty much all I wore on my feet for 3 months), I can feel the sides of the heel flap where I picked up the stitches, and I don't love that. But it's not too bad.<br /><br />Then Sarah came over and showed me the Socks of Insanity that she was knitting for her son, with about 100 stitches around, knit in rib on size 1 needles. I was so glad she came to visit. I hadn't seen her in <em>ages</em>! And sometimes it's nice to know that there are other people out there crazier than you, know what I mean?<br /><br />As a bonus, Sarah brought her copy of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sock-Innovation-Techniques-One-Kind/dp/1596681098">Sock Innovation</a>, and let me borrow it. Now that I know how to knit socks top-down, a whole new world of sock knitting has opened up to me, and I think one of the undisputed geniuses of that world is Cookie A. I'd always admired her designs, but had never made any because they are all top-down. Well, I dove right in with this pair:<br /><a title="kai mei socks by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5487486559/"><img alt="kai mei socks" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4088/5487486559_c297718145.jpg" width="374" height="500" /></a><br />This is the Kai Mei pattern, and it has a very cool lace pattern that runs down and over the side of the foot. I've read that it's a "honeybee" lace pattern, but I think it looks like a heart, which was perfect for knitting in February.<br /><br />I love these socks. The pattern was fun and challenging, and the yarn was very pleasant to knit, but I am kind of annoyed that the skeins did not end up matching well at all. It's Jojoland Melody, and both balls were the same colorway and dye lot, but you see how different the socks look. They are more fraternal twins than identical, I guess.<br /><br />I am clearly on a pink kick lately, trying to brighten up the winter with a cheery color. I've made a <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5511377951/">hat from magenta-red Malabrigo</a>, a pair of <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5512559734/in/photostream/">fingerless mitts </a>from pink sock yarn, and I am about halfway through a <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5511962259/in/photostream/">shawl </a>of pink and mango colored sock yarn that is so bright it blinds the camera, LOL.<br /><br />That's enough news for today, I think. I will be back soon with more updates!Sydneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07128456837064172489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24304442.post-44822481261654639442011-02-12T11:14:00.006-05:002011-02-15T11:53:17.838-05:00Egg Diaries: Shmelanie's Big RunDear Diary,<br /><br />Well, I'm glad that's over! <br /><br />I was just wandering down the path when someone picked me up and carried me over to the side of the people's house. I had no idea where I was, but then I saw it: FOOOOOD!!!! My buddies and I ran as fast as we could to reach the dewy grass and dirt. <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5438658489/" title="DSCI0153 by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4097/5438658489_324b0b8f16.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="DSCI0153" /></a><br />We scratched around for a while, but then, to my horror, *plop*, down came Lily! <br /><br />I wiggled and wobbled around the side of the house, only to find some small hands picking me up and placing me back by the grass! I shuffled as fast as I could, avoiding shiny ice and thick snow drifts to get back to the house. <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5438657483/" title="DSCI0143 by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4118/5438657483_f51503f97d.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="DSCI0143" /></a><br />When my friends came back later, they told me scary stories of a giant cat appearing in the window and giving my sis, Lily, quite a fright. (Not disappointed there. Hehe.) <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5438659181/" title="DSCI0159 by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5297/5438659181_624fd7cfbb.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="DSCI0159" /></a><br />Gotta go, though. More squishy oatmeal. ;)<br />XOXO Shmelanie<br />(This Diary entry was written and photographed by Catgirl, Melanie's official secretary and photographer.)Sydneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07128456837064172489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24304442.post-84508234736609647502011-02-05T09:35:00.006-05:002011-02-08T16:55:55.393-05:00Egg Diaries: Winter, Day 45<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5398757508/" title="DSCN2194 by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5060/5398757508_5bb4705443.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="DSCN2194" /></a><br />Dear Diary,<br /><br />When will this awful season end? Between the cold white stuff on the ground, the ice, the wind, the freezing rain, I am finding it hard to remember the hot days of the summer, when we huddled under the coop to enjoy the shade rather than to take shelter from the wind. In August, it was so hot that the people brought us watermelon and misted the dust down with the garden hose. Now they bring us hot oatmeal and microwaved leftovers from the dinner table.<br /><br />By the way, may I say how grateful I am that the young girl never seems to finish her dinner? Yum, leftover potatoes.... <br /><br />I must admit that I am getting seriously bored of cracked corn and oatmeal and winter squash. I want to dig in the dirt and leaves and eat some bugs. <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5398156367/" title="Path 2 by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5300/5398156367_081b083dc4.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Path 2" /></a><br />We did find some dirt to dig in the other day, along the side of the house. It was only about 8 square feet, and we had to walk a long way donw the path the people shopvelled from the house to the coop, but where else do we have to go? With all this snow, all we can do is walk up and down the path. After a coupld of warmer afternoons, the snow next to the house melted in a few spots, and we were able to get to the grass and leaves underneath. You don't suppose the people really wanted the grass that grew there, do you? Hope not. It was delicious.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5398758080/" title="Chickens in the snow by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5212/5398758080_0dcb2d3932.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Chickens in the snow" /></a><br />The people put a bale of straw in our coop last week to block the wind and to give us something to play with. Yeah, that went well. It only took us 4 or 5 days to completely demolish it all over this coop. Honestly, did they think a silly bale of hay would hold up against us for longer than that? <br /><br />My sister Lily is broody these days. That means she spends just about all day and night in one of the nesting boxes. The confusing part is that she does change boxes once in a while. When Audrey was broody she picked one box and stuck with it, but Lily is all over the place. Well, at least it keeps her from trying to eat me alive. I swear, I am glad I can't see the back of my neck in a mirror, since she pulled out all the feathers I had there. I do hope they grow back, because my neck is cold.<br /><br />More later, Diary. I need to go lay an egg. <br />~MelanieSydneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07128456837064172489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24304442.post-3199745332365657332011-01-21T12:04:00.003-05:002011-01-21T13:30:16.185-05:00A Whole Lot of Frogging Going OnI've been doing lots of knitting and unknitting this winter. This post will cover the unknitting. I was going to write about the knitting, too, but writing about the unknitting bummed me out and I need to go do something positive to cheer myself up.<br /><br />I have written about unknitting before. Last March, I ripped out a silk sweater that I had knit 6 or so years ago. It was the first time I had frogged an entire knitted garment like that, and I was surprised at how well it went. A good soaking got rid of the whole ramen-yarn effect. I did end up with a lot of small skeins, but they should be perfectly usable. As I explained last year, this sweater had been an epic fail in so many ways: the design was silly, it was not flattering for my body type, and the fit was horrible because I completely ignored gauge. This gorgeous yarn clearly wanted to be a shawlette or something like that.<br /><a title="Jaeger Silk reclaimed by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5375813210/"><img alt="Jaeger Silk reclaimed" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5206/5375813210_0b0012647a_m.jpg" width="240" height="176" /></a><br />It has been several months since this yarn's return to the stash, and I still don't have a plan for how to use it. But that didn't stop me from ruthlessly ripping out some more of my epic fails of the past. In fact, you could probably say that I got carried away.<br /><a title="Froggers! by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5375213055/"><img alt="Froggers!" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5085/5375213055_f803acd9e6.jpg" width="500" height="376" /></a><br />I don't even want to think about how many months worth of knitting were undone in making the pile in the above picture.<br /><br />Let's start with the worst and work our way up, shall we? <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5375813060/" title="Southwest Purplexed by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5010/5375813060_c663bb00ba_m.jpg" width="240" height="227" alt="Southwest Purplexed" /></a><br />This was once a tunic style vest from Vogue Knitting. I have no picture of it. You'll have to take my word for it: it was very ugly. The design was questionable to begin with, but my execution was pretty crappy as well. Everything from yarn choice to my failure to finish the front properly resulted in an FO so bad that it had not seen the light of day since, oh, 2006? I had forced myself to wear it a few times, but when I realized that the weight of the yarn streched the armholes so much that I had to wear a shirt underneath to keep from giving everyone a clear view of my bra, that was pretty much the end for this garment.<br /><br />This is a variegated ribbon/tape yarn made from 100% soy. It ripped out very easily. But I don't know what the heck to do with it! It's not like I was dying to have this yarn back in the stash. I got it from the sale bin at a store that went out of business years ago. I have since learned a couple things about sale bins at yarn stores. Yarn ends up in those bins generally for one of two reasons: (1) the store no longer has enough for you to be able to make what you really want with it, or (2) no one has any idea what to make with it, so it did not sell and now the store just wants to get rid of it. This yarn was in the bin for reason #2.<br /><br />Catgirl wants me to "make something" for her with it. But what?<br /><br />Does anyone remember this little number from 2008?<br /><a title="Woodland Shawl, in progress by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/2962138320/"><img alt="Woodland Shawl, in progress" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3202/2962138320_185625b1e6_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" /></a><br />This is the only picture I have of it. I was so annoyed with it, I never did a "finished" picture of it. The lace is pretty, but the project ended up being incredibly small, even after blocking. Blocking only added a couple inches to it, but it never held the block anyway, shrinking bit by bit every day. I tried wearing it as a neck shawl with the ends tucked into the front of my coat, but it was not even a good enough size for that. Then I decided it would be a nice decoration for a table, and it has spent the last 2 years stretched over Nana's coffee table... and it was not long enough to reach the ends.<br /><br />Now it looks like this.<br /><a title="Rio de la Plata yarn reclaimed by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5375212823/"><img alt="Rio de la Plata yarn reclaimed" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5206/5375212823_480664e93d_m.jpg" width="240" height="160" /></a><br />The soaking and hanging softened the ramen factor, but it did not come out as well as the other things I have ripped. I managed to save about 80% of the yarn from the shawl, the end was too felted together and I had to cut a couple inches off. But what do I do with it now? It's not like I loved this yarn and was yearning to knit is again.<br /><br />And now we come to piece de resistance:<br /><a title="DSCN2149 by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/2215939693/"><img alt="DSCN2149" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2214/2215939693_752fd7d54a_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" /></a><br />This sweater was well made, with nice yarn--a great basic cardigan that I made at least 5 years ago. The yarn is Noro Silk Garden, an interesting silk/wool/mohair blend. Unfortunately, when I made this, I was not sure I would have enough yarn, so made it a little too short. Although I wore it a lot, I was never happy with the length. For the past couple years, I hadn't worn it because I was that unhappy with how short it was. It was very frustrating, because I loved the look of this yarn knit up in simple stockinette.<br /><br />Under the influence of my crazy frogging frenzy, I got a crazy idea. What if I ripped it out and made a vest instead? The yarn reclaimed from the sleeves would help make the body of the garment long enough to make me happy. So I grabbed my scissors, and started pulling.<br /><a title="Noro Silk Garden reclaimed by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5375212927/"><img alt="Noro Silk Garden reclaimed" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5241/5375212927_f4590934be_m.jpg" width="240" height="196" /></a><br />Now it's a pile of skeins, and I am an idiot.<br /><br />This was, quite honestly, a huge mistake. First of all, this yarn has MOHAIR in it. What was I thinking? Ripping back mohair is a knitter's idea of torture. And secondly, I had forgotten how difficult this sweater had been to knit. There were several knots in the skeins, and sometimes the knots interrupted the long color runs so I had to cut and try a different skein to match it up. It's hard to rip when you have ends wound in among the stitches, so that caused lots of problems. And, because of all the breaks in the yarn, I now have a dozen little skeins of this yarn, but matching them up in the long color runs is going to be extremely difficult. <br /><br />So what to do with all this "bounty"? I think I can see making it into some hats, maybe a cowl, maybe some mittens. I think it's only going to be any good for small projects like those. So much for my dreams of a long vest....Sydneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07128456837064172489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24304442.post-33553037300586997062011-01-13T14:37:00.006-05:002011-01-13T15:33:14.084-05:00Old Man Winter is Having Way Too Much Fun<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5352133425/" title="DSCN2161 by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5002/5352133425_033aafda40.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="DSCN2161" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5352743716/" title="DSCN2166 by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5087/5352743716_8931e0dac7.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="DSCN2166" /></a><br />So this is what it looked like in our backyard yesterday. This was only 5 or 6 inches of snow. Easy-peasy, right? I mean, we must be getting used to this by now. <br /><br />But that's easy for me to say, from the comfort of the couch in my cozy family room, with the fire burning and the new heating system cranking away. I wonder if I would feel the same way if I were a chicken and my home looked like this: <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5352743520/" title="DSCN2164 by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5046/5352743520_53e4278304.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="DSCN2164" /></a><br />This is what it looked like out at the chicken coop, after I shoveled out the worst of the snow and spread some straw around for the ladies to play in.<br /><br />Keep in mind that this henhouse, although it sports a nice solid roof and cute red paint, is little more than a wooden box on stilts. It's not heated. We placed it in a corner of the yard where we thought it would be protected from the worst of the weather, with the shed on one side and the woods and the berm of the creek on two other sides. I've hung a tarp to give them more protection from rain and snow, and I recently propped some boards against the bottom of the coop to give them an area protected from the harsh wind blowing across the backyard. But it's still darn cold out there. Even before we got this latest storm, the temperatures were very low, making for cold hard ground and a cold henhouse.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5352126921/" title="In Nesting Boxes by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5002/5352126921_3a8727cba6.jpg" width="500" height="374" alt="In Nesting Boxes" /></a><br />We've had some amusing moments this week, watching the girls trying to deal with the snow. They really don't like walking on it, we know that. I am very glad that I bought that bale of straw a few months ago. It was a monumental failure in the henhouse--the chickens hated it, and would not go in the nesting boxes when the straw was there--but it has been great for spreading on top of the snow. It's more pleasant for them to walk on than the snow, and digging in the straw gives them something to do. <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5352133807/" title="DSCN2165 by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5090/5352133807_50509fe3c0.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="DSCN2165" /></a><br />This helps, because I think they are getting bored out of their tiny little minds out there in the coop. Every time one of us opens the door, they all come running and look out to see if we've gotten rid of all that troublesome and cold white stuff yet. <br /><br />Occasionally, they will get desperate enough to venture a few steps onto the snow, and we have noticed that some of them are more daring in this regard than others. Daisy, for example, is much more willing to brave cold feet if it means a chance to walk around outside. Melanie is usually just a few steps behind her. The other three are less enthusiastic. In particular, Jackie is a complete and total coward, and she would much rather stay under the henhouse and call for everyone to come back and stay with her. It's ironic that the biggest of the hens is the most wimpy.<br /><br />So far, they haven't cut back much on production. We still get 3 or 4 eggs a day, so they are doing their jobs.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5352127381/" title="IMG_0246 by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5007/5352127381_26bdcc2f30.jpg" width="500" height="374" alt="IMG_0246" /></a> <br /><br />With the cold, we've had trouble keeping their water from freezing. We have two bottles, so we change them out every few hours so that there is always one bottle with unfrozen water available for them. It's becoming a bit of a pain, though, so the other day I broke down and ordered an electrically heated water bowl. And a couple of days ago, I started bringing them a treat:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5352736196/" title="IMG_0241 by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5287/5352736196_1c57295761.jpg" width="500" height="374" alt="IMG_0241" /></a><br />Multigrain hot cereal. This bowl has a generous sprinkling of flax seed, because my friend Elyse suggested it might help make their eggs more nutritious. Hey, I'll try anything. But would they? <br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5352736666/" title="IMG_0243 by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5207/5352736666_93c3d6a51a.jpg" width="500" height="374" alt="IMG_0243" /></a><br />Yep. They loved it.<br /><br />If you'd told me a year ago that I'd be cooking for chickens, I am not sure I would have believed you.Sydneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07128456837064172489noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24304442.post-56034764316772664252011-01-07T07:54:00.006-05:002011-01-14T09:07:58.784-05:002011 brings Snow, Eggs, and a Shopping Epiphany<a title="DSCN2156 by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5332905753/"><img alt="DSCN2156" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5082/5332905753_20d2aa5dbb.jpg" width="500" height="375" /></a><br />The snow started here a little while ago, but they are saying we should only get an inch or two today. No big deal. I am better prepared than I was for the storm that came after Christmas. This time, I already put the chickens' tractor under the swing-set, so they would have a protected and relatively snow-free place to go outside the coop. I also fixed the tarp again in the chickens' area yesterday, so they should not be bothered too much by snow there. The Christmas snow last time was way too much for my jury-rigged tarp arrangement to handle, and the whole thing had collapsed under the weight of the white stuff. But today's snow should not be a problem for my pathetic little system of hooks and zip ties.<br /><br />I know it sounds like I spoil them, but we all feel a lot of responsibility for them. Like any pets, they are completely dependent upon us to take care of them. But, unlike pets, they pay their way by providing us with FOOD--we are getting 3 or 4eggs everyday. For some reason, this really makes me feel my obligation to them even more strongly. It's like a contract: they're living up to their end, and we need to do our part, too.<br /><br />The cat sneaked out this morning when Mathboy ran out for his bus. The bugger has perfected the art of hiding near the foot of the stairs in the front hall. He waits for one of the kids to run out to the bus, and dashes out behind: a white and gray streak leaping through, in the nick of time, before the door slams. You might think the sound of the door crashing closed behind him would remind him of <a href="http://maisonsydney.blogspot.com/2007/07/tough-week.html">the way he lost half his tail</a> a few years ago. Apparently not. At any rate, even he did not want to stay out too long this morning with the snow coming down. He's back already, licking the white stuff off his fur and watching the snow fall through the window.<br /><a title="Cat wants out by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5333101356/"><img alt="Cat wants out" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5081/5333101356_f49e2671bd.jpg" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />I ended up having to spend a while at the mall yesterday, in my hunt for the elusive Pants-That-Fit for my son. He's turning into quite the long, tall drink-of-water, and the pants I bought only a few months ago are already way too short. He wears them anyway, because he could care less, but Rich and I are have frightening flaskbacks of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Urkel">Erkel </a>every time he puts them on. So I was determined yesterday to get pants that he wouldn't grow out of in a few months and secretly remove all the old pants from his closet so he couldn't wear them by accident. Mission Impossible? I was afraid so.<br /><br />First stop: trusty old Macy's kids' department. I have given up on buying any shirts for Mathboy there--the kid clothes are just too ugly these days. But they usually have a good selection of Levis. But I discovered yesterday the limitations of kids' sizes: Mathboy has outgrown the 14s, which measure 27x27. I could have bought him 16s, which would have been 28x28. But that seemed pointless. Judging by the expanse of sock showing above his shoes and below his hems, he's probably too tall for those already. The size 18s measured 29x29. Those might be the right length, but they also would fall down around his ankles.<br /><br />Crap. I was going to need 28x30 pants, and I think you can only get those in ... the men's department.<br /><br />And right there, in the kids' floor of Macy's, surrounded by ugly dorky shirts and wrong-sized jeans on the boys' side, and ugly too-glittery shirts and babydoll dress on the girls' side, I finally realized it.<br /><br />My days of shopping in the kids' department are over. My kids are now adult-size, or least teen-size. How did this happen??!!<br /><br />Once I got my breath back, I bid farewell to the kids' department of Macy's, left my coupons behind, and walked out into the uncharted territory of The Mall, to hunt down the Perfect Guy Jeans. <br /><br />My first stop was the Gap, because it was not too far outside my shopping comfort zone. Then I saw the price of men's jeans in the Gap. $60, anyone? Hunh? I wonder if the clerks noticed me laughing hysterically as I ran back out of the store.<br /><br />I ended up at (gulp) American Eagle and (gasp) Hollister. My friend Mildred buys her kids clothes at American Eagle, and the display windows looked teenager-centered. And they were having a sale. Bingo! I ventured in. I found jeans and khakis in Mathboy's size, and felt pretty pleased with myself. This was easy, and relatively painless. The price was not as good at Macy's, but not as bad as the Gap. My confidence soared. I decided to challenge myself, and try to track down a "Cool Guy Shirt" as well. You know the kind I mean, right? The kind of shirt worn by boys who do not take pre-Calculus two (or 3?) years early, and who do not read 10-pound history books for fun?<br /><br />I looked at the shirts, and, although I could tell that they definitely were for "Cool Guys," I also knew that Mathboy would hate them. Mathboy generally dislikes clothes with words and logos all over them, and American Eagle's stuff was all like a walking advertisement.<br /><br />On a whim, I went down the hall to Hollister. It must have been the big "40% off Everything" sign in front that convinced me to go in, because I normally avoid Hollister like the proverbial plague. Hollister is one of those stores where the lighting is so dim that you can't find anything on your own, and the the music is playing so THUMPA-THUMPA-loud that you can't ask the clerks for help. And I did not think they would have anything Mathboy would like. It seems that there is no point in wearing Hollister clothes, unless you can make darn sure everyone knows you are wearing Hollister clothes. Fortunately, that's not hard with the way they plaster their brand name and logo acrrss the chest, arm and butt of everything they sell. As I've said, that's not Mathboy's style, so I did not expect to find anything for him there.<br /><br />But I was pleasantly surprised. In the guys' section (excuse me, I mean "dudes" section), I found a big table full of heavyweight, long-sleeved henleys and t-shirts. They were all extremely soft, in nice subtle colors, and with very subdued logo-placement. I threw caution to the wind and bought 3 of them, for only about $50. And guess what? Mathboy loves them. Mission accomplished!<br /><br />As a funny coda to this story, let me tell you what happened when I left the store, pleased with my find but a bit embarrassed by picture of the seriously-ripped male model on the store bag I was carrying. As I paused to let my eyes readjust to the bright light of the mall, I realized that a horrendously loud fire or theft alarm was sounding throughout the mall. <br /><br />The Hollister music had been so loud, we had not heard it inside the store. <br /><br />Good thing it was a false alarm. I hope the mall has some alternative plan for emptying out the Hollister store in case of emergency, since the alarm clearly doesn't work in there. :o/ <br /><br /><strong>IN OTHER NEWS....</strong><br />We had a great visit with Leslie and Frank, who stayed with us from December 27th through New Year's. We did not do that much, mostly just enjoying the time with each other. My big gift was a Christmas Nativity Pyramid, that they had gotten in Germany when they were there in September. It's beautiful, and we all love it so much. It's fascinating watching it go around and around.<br /><br />One day, we drove over to New Hope, PA, which has changed quite a bit since I grew up around there. We walked around a little there, had a nice lunch, fed some birds in the river, and rode the New Hope Ivyland Railroad.<br /><a title="NH Ivyland RR by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5333512776/"><img alt="NH Ivyland RR" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5282/5333512776_949747b464.jpg" width="500" height="374" /></a><br />Then we drove to Peddler's Village, which seems SO much different! Of course, that's what happens when you go back to a place after being away for 20 years! The Christmas lights were gorgeous.<br /><a title="Peddler's Village Lights by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5333520882/"><img alt="Peddler's Village Lights" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5207/5333520882_ae159da494.jpg" width="500" height="374" /></a><br /><br />Catgirl and I waited in line (in the coooooold!) to see the entries in the Gingerbread House contest.<br /><a title="Gingerbread Houses 1 by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5333538206/"><img alt="Gingerbread Houses 1" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5046/5333538206_6e98ef06b6.jpg" width="500" height="374" /></a><br />These house were amazing. The winners were spectacular, but some of my favorites didn't win anything.<br /><a title="Gingerbread Houses 2 by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5333537930/"><img alt="Gingerbread Houses 2" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5250/5333537930_be835a3c64.jpg" width="500" height="374" /></a><br /><a title="Gingerbread Houses 3 by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5333520698/"><img alt="Gingerbread Houses 3" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5246/5333520698_86fd1eb369.jpg" width="500" height="374" /></a><br /><br />In this picture, the White House got 3rd prize in its category, but the Rockefeller Center on the left got nothing.<br /><a title="Gingerbread Houses 4 by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5333520392/"><img alt="Gingerbread Houses 4" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5084/5333520392_0f7ace92e3.jpg" width="500" height="374" /></a><br /><br />Check out this wreath, made entirely of gingerbread "pinecones." Wow!<br /><a title="Gingerbread Houses 5 by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5332900553/"><img alt="Gingerbread Houses 5" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5202/5332900553_18393096a0.jpg" width="374" height="500" /></a><br />The wreath only got an Honorable Mention in its category. The winner was this covered bridge scene, which was very nice, too:<br /><a title="Gingerbread Houses 6 by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5332897389/"><img alt="Gingerbread Houses 6" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5086/5332897389_086ed18962.jpg" width="500" height="374" /></a><br /><br />Happy New Year!<br /><a title="IMG_0224_edited by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5333521144/"><img alt="IMG_0224_edited" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5003/5333521144_95974c8fe8.jpg" width="500" height="374" /></a>Sydneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07128456837064172489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24304442.post-23915393297585544352010-12-27T09:50:00.005-05:002010-12-27T11:30:48.481-05:00Settling Down for a Long Winter's BlogSo it's been a month and a half since my last post, and I feel terrible about that. I even mentioned the blog in some Christmas cards this year ("keep up with us during the year by checking out the photos and posts at my blog"), but I still haven't updated it in forever. I really should be better about this, shouldn't I?<br /><br />I had all sorts of thoughts about posts I could have done before Christmas. I was going to write about how we somehow found the most perfect Christmas tree in all of New Jersey. There it was: just one of a bunch of trees cut and leaning against the barn at the tree farm. It took us about 5 minutes to find it. It was the first tree we looked at. It didn't seem right to find the perfect tree so easily, without any suffering or arguing amongst ourselves, that we looked around for a while longer, but there seemed little point. We all knew it was the one. So after we peeled Catgirl away from the family of bunnies in the barn, we loaded it up and took it home.<br /><a title="bunnies! by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5260988299/"><img alt="bunnies!" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5209/5260988299_23e74c8959.jpg" width="374" height="500" /></a><br />Finding some free family time to decorate it was harder than finding the tree!<br /><a title="the perfect tree by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5261593630/"><img alt="the perfect tree" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5243/5261593630_2e22f18aa9.jpg" width="374" height="500" /></a><br /><br />The months of November and December brought us Mathboy's confirmation. I have pictures of him wearing the red gown that all the boys wore for Confirmation at the church, but he would prefer I not post those here. He did not enjoy wearing the red gown. April and her youngest daughter, and Leslie and Frank came to visit us for Confirmation weekend, which was a nice treat. We also ran a 5K race that weekend--my first race ever, the one that Mathboy and I started training for over the summer. I had to walk a couple of times because I had been sick for the 2 weeks before the race and slacked off on the training. But I still posted a respectable finish time of just under 33 minutes, which I felt was a success. I want to keep running, but the weather has gotten in my way here the past few weeks....<br /><br />Audrey gave us our first eggs in early November. Audrey is a bantam, so the eggs were very small and cute. You can see how much smaller the yolks from her eggs are compared to one from a store-bought extra-large egg, but they are still yummy!<br /><br /><a title="Bantam egg yolks by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5296421209/"><img alt="Bantam egg yolks" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5208/5296421209_7993ec5738.jpg" width="374" height="500" /></a><br /><br />Daisy joined Audrey in the nesting boxes after a week or so, and then Jackie. They are both standard chickens, so their eggs are much closer in size to store-bought. The other two banties, Lily and Melanie, just started laying the week before Christmas. By then, Audrey went on a winter break, which was well-deserved considering that she laid 5 or 6 eggs a week for over a month. Regardless, we've had a few days this week when we collected 4 eggs, which is very good. The short days and the cold have made the laying schedule all wonky, I think.<br /><br /><a title="IMG_0036 by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5296957212/"><img alt="IMG_0036" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5283/5296957212_b780726542.jpg" width="500" height="374" /></a><br />We can tell everyone's eggs apart, which I did not expect. Audrey's are small,and more yellow than brown, Daisy's eggs are big and a warm brown, while Jackie's a pinkish brown.<br /><br />In December, Rich and I decided that we really wanted to get up to New York to see all the Christmas stuff. We bought tickets for the Rockettes' show at Radio City, because we had never seen that, and made lots of other plans for an epic day in the Big Apple. We caught an early train out of Hamilton, and got to NYC around 8:30 in the morning, on a very cold day. We were very glad we had bundled up with long underwear and warm socks (and lots of handknits!).<br /><br />Catgirl, Nicki and I started the day at American Girl Place. Nicki got her hair done and her ears pierced, and we had a delicious brunch in the cafe.<br /><a title="IMG_0103 by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5296300445/"><img alt="IMG_0103" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5166/5296300445_1a3367f52c.jpg" width="500" height="374" /></a><br /><br />We walked around the city, and saw the Christmas sights:<br /><a title="IMG_0125 by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5296897368/"><img alt="IMG_0125" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5203/5296897368_abf8e8f1e7.jpg" width="500" height="374" /></a><br /><a title="IMG_0127 by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5296300789/"><img alt="IMG_0127" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5245/5296300789_e8b97221e8.jpg" width="500" height="374" /></a><br /><br />We went up to the top of Rockefeller Center (where it was REALLY cold!):<br /><a title="IMG_0131 by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5296301323/"><img alt="IMG_0131" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5246/5296301323_b2c9cfff7b.jpg" width="500" height="374" /></a><br /><br />We saw the tree in Rockefeller Center:<br /><a title="IMG_0137 by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5296302083/"><img alt="IMG_0137" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5162/5296302083_5ac1c76126.jpg" width="374" height="500" /></a><br /><br />Throughout the day, we really did not have any trouble with crowds. We got to thoroughly explore and enjoy F.A.O. Schwartz and take our time with the windows at Macy's. The worst trouble we had was when we were wandering around Rockefeller Center, killing time before the Rockettes' show. There were so many people in the Lego store there, we had trouble really seeing any of the amazing stuff they had there, and we lost each other at least 3 times. It was the scariest part of the day for me. We decided to go see if we could get into the theater early, and fortunately we could.<br /><br /><a title="IMG_0146 by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5296898504/"><img alt="IMG_0146" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5165/5296898504_2e6cbb4243.jpg" width="500" height="374" /></a><br />I LOVED the Christmas show. That's pretty much all I can say about it. Was it hokey? You bet. A little strange? Absolutely. But the dancers, singers and actors were all wonderful, the staging was wonderful, the production value was wonderful. The living Nativity was breathtaking, and had me tearing up. The only thing that bothered me was the way that half the audience was late, and still finding their seats throughout the first and second scenes.<br /><br />People. For what these tickets cost, you should have been there on time.<br /><br />The New York trip really got us ready for Christmas. Next came a weekend of frenzied cookie-baking:<br /><a title="cookies! by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5283557146/"><img alt="cookies!" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5128/5283557146_37692bce59.jpg" width="500" height="374" /></a><br />Christmas Cut-out cookies, and<br /><a title="IMG_0150 by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5296300183/"><img alt="IMG_0150" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5006/5296300183_1c30db697b.jpg" width="500" height="374" /></a><br />chocolate-dipped Melting Moments.<br /><br />Christmas itself was lovely. The kids got what they wanted (e.g., new phones and new coats, new golf club and new clothes for the American Girl dolls). We are not sure, but we think we could probably win a contest for the strangest Christmas gifts, for some of the things that were exchanged in our house. Mathboy got a model trebuchet. He put it together and it works! Rich wanted and received a weather vane. (He also wanted and received <a href="http://www.brucespringsteen.net/news/index.html">The Promise boxed set</a> by Bruce Springsteen, which is much more normal and also was much appreciated).<br /><br />We had planned to have a nice Christmas gathering at my parents' house on the 26th, but the weather threw us for a loop. For several days, the news people talked about a threat of snow on the 26th, but the Channel 6 folks (my favorite) kept saying that they thought it would go out to sea and that we might get an inch of snow, if any. But midday on Christmas day, however, they changed their tune and the forecast now called for about of foot of snow in our part of New Jersey.<br /><br />We did not want to miss out on the chance to see everyone, so Rich and I pulled the kids out of bed early on the 26th. We threw on some warm clothes, packed up the gifts and got some coffee and toast, and were on the road before 8. We got to spend the morning and then some at my parents' house, and enjoyed a yummy brunch that Mom and Bill threw together very quickly. We had time to talk, look at old pictures, and play a game or two.<br /><a title="IMG_0170 by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5296895590/"><img alt="IMG_0170" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5282/5296895590_68cde4f164.jpg" width="500" height="374" /></a><br />Unfortunately, we could not take time with our gifts, because we heard reports that the weather was already getting ugly in New Jersey. By 1 pm, we felt that we really had to get on the road to come back home.<br /><a title="IMG_0171 by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5296895856/"><img alt="IMG_0171" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5126/5296895856_44f258d4f2.jpg" width="500" height="374" /></a><br /><a title="IMG_0172 by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5296896114/"><img alt="IMG_0172" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5044/5296896114_d419e9a34f.jpg" width="500" height="374" /></a><br /><br />It got very ugly here last night. We were glad we were home. Now we have about 10 to 12 inches on the ground, but it's blowing around a lot in the high winds. There are spots where it is over my knees, and some spots where you can see the grass. I was walking out to the coop this morning, to bring water to the chickens, and I felt like a real farmer...and wishing I could stay in bed. Ah, the price of fresh eggs.<br /><a title="IMG_0177 by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5296895004/"><img alt="IMG_0177" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5243/5296895004_848f726806.jpg" width="500" height="374" /></a><br /><br />Our favorite neighbor is snow-blowing our driveway as I write. I think I should send him a box of eggs later, hm?Sydneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07128456837064172489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24304442.post-51255969704334370352010-11-05T07:14:00.003-05:002010-11-05T07:21:27.958-05:00First Egg!On Wednesday evening, I lifted up the egg collection door for the coop. The nights have been chilly lately, and I wanted to put some insulating tape over a huge crack in the corner of the nesting box ledge. I figured the chickens would appreciate it if I got rid of that draft for them. And then I saw this:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5144095822/" title="Our first egg! by sydneycm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1229/5144095822_3e59dff1d4.jpg" width="320" height="480" alt="Our first egg!" /></a><br />Someone laid us an egg! We haven't had another one yet, but this is an awesome start. We are not sure who's handiwork this is. It's small, so the kids think it must have come from one of the bantams. But I understand first eggs are usually small. It's brown, so it is most likely from one of the big chickens. Two of the banties are supposed to lay blue eggs, while the third bantam could lay blue or brown.Sydneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07128456837064172489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24304442.post-36076830611014678902010-11-02T16:35:00.005-05:002010-11-03T12:00:52.690-05:00Stump the ClerkI tend to be the kind of shopper that ends up with veggies that are rather unusual. Because of this, I often end up playing a kind of game with the check out clerks at the grocery store. Over the years, I have stumped the clerks with all sorts of things. There was one occasion when the teenage girl ringing my order knew almost none of the vegetables I had laid out on the conveyor belt. She had to ask me about every one, and then she had to look each one up on the produce list, and our irritation with each other multiplied with each item she did not know or could not spell:<br /><br />"What's this?"<br /><br />"Lemon grass."<br /><br />"And this?"<br /><br />"Endive."<br /><br />"Wha?"<br /><br />"Kale." (through gritted teeth).<br /><br />"Mmmm?"<br /><br />"SCALLIONS."<br /><br />[Insert questioning look here, as she silently held up the veggie for me to name it]: "Radicchio. Starts with an R."<br /><br />The radicchio is a tough one, I know. I've stumped folks with endive as well. But the scallions? Seriously?<br /><br />On the other hand, sometimes my veggies lead to some interesting discussions. Once, the young man (maybe 20 years old) ringing me up held up the butternut squash, and said, "People keep buying these, but I have no idea what you do with it. Should I try one?" We spent the rest of the time it took for him to ring the order and for me to bag discussing how you cook it and how he can look recipes up on the internet. I felt pretty good about that. I introduced a young guy to a new veggie.<br /><br />I bring this up today, because I particularly enjoyed today's game of "Stump the Clerk." I was at Wegman's and the lady ringing my order was a trainee. She had a mentor doing the bagging and helping her learn how to use the register. Interestingly, the trainee was older than me, while the mentor was much younger. Perhaps it was a sign of the economy. Anyway, the lady was doing pretty well with my order until she came to this:<br /><a title="iphone_pic by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5140125119/"><img alt="iphone_pic" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4054/5140125119_76d07634a5.jpg" width="320" height="480" /></a><br />She held up the bag, and turned with a helpless pleading look to her mentor. I waited for the mentor to ask me, because she was pretty young. But to my surprise, the mentor immediately recited, "Anise, also known as Fennel. Code 4515. Tastes like black licorice."<br /><br />Well, she blew me away. That girl knew her stuff.<br /><br />In the past several years, I have really tried to expand the palates in our family by branching out and using a greater variety of vegetables. Fennel is one of those that I have been surprised to find that I truly enjoy.<br /><br />I first tried fennel once when we lived in Philadelphia (B.K.: before kids), and I did not like it. I told myself that it was OK not to like it; I don't have to like everything. And I expected not to like it because I really am not a fan of licorice. That was about 15 years ago. Fast forward to 2008, when we participated in the CSA program with the farm from Pennington. With the CSA, we ended up receiving some rather unusual vegetables. It seemed a waste not to use them, so we did try a lot of different things. And I will admit that not everything was a hit with the family, but at least we could say we tried it. For example, we never got excited about eggplant. And the kohlrabi was just too silly.<br /><br />The week that we got 3 fennel bulbs, I groaned, because I remembered making it in Philly and hating it. But I resolved to try it again. I ended up thinly slicing it up with new potatoes and baking it all into an au gratin dish and you know what? It was <strong>AWESOME</strong>. I have made it many, many times since then, and I even have found some other recipes that I like as well. And every time I serve it, I am grateful for the CSA that got me to try new things and to give a second chance to some other things that I thought I hated.<br /><br />So everyone: Try something new today! Find a recipe online that sounds interesting. Go to the store and pick out something unusual. Look at the veggies that are in season. Play Stump the Clerk at your local store. It's fun!Sydneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07128456837064172489noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24304442.post-19846233215899963602010-11-01T07:31:00.002-05:002010-11-01T08:14:12.703-05:00Still Waiting<a title="iphone_pic by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5135315107/"><img alt="iphone_pic" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4037/5135315107_07490780d1.jpg" width="320" height="480" /></a><br />The chickens are 23 weeks old today. Everything I've read says that they really should be laying eggs by now. But are they? No. I've been starting to think of them as freeloaders. I know they're lots of fun, but they eat very well and they are supposed to be giving me eggs in return.<br /><a title="iphone_pic by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5135916902/"><img alt="iphone_pic" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1409/5135916902_46bd5a6b45.jpg" width="320" height="480" /></a><br />Catgirl had fantasized that the chickens would lay eggs in time for us to use some in her birthday cake. As her birthday approached in early October, we waited and hoped, but got nothing. On the morning of her birthday, Catgirl went out to the coop to see if there was anything to collect. Imagine her surprise, when she saw these:<br /><a title="Knitted eggs by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5054779558/"><img alt="Knitted eggs" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4106/5054779558_a09472fb2f.jpg" width="500" height="375" /></a><br />Yes! The chickens did not lay her any eggs, but apparently, they had decided to knit some for her. :o)<br /><br />She brought them in and showed them to us, and Mathboy and I cracked up. I tried to say "How did the chickens learn how to knit?" with a straight face, but failed miserably. She said, "You are SO weird, Mom," but she was smiling so it was totally worth it.<br /><br /><a title="Autumn sunrise by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5125872118/"><img alt="Autumn sunrise" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1219/5125872118_ab38c7d9f3.jpg" width="500" height="333" /></a><br />Crazy October is over, thank goodness. About weeks ago, Catgirl got her splint off her finger and was able to return to active duty in field hockey. That combined with other activities gave her something to do after school everyday last week. Mathboy was very busy with cross country, religious education and preparing for Doane's Dungeon (the "haunted house" they do at school). Looking at the calendar, it appears that November should be a bit calmer. We have Mathboy's Confirmation and the River Run the weekend of November 12, but that seems to be it. Both kids are done with sports until spring.<br /><br />Catgirl had a great time trick or treating last night with a couple friends. She and the girl next door designed and created their own iPod Touch costumes, somplete with many apps. It took weeks to make.<br /><a title="happy halloween by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5134995019/"><img alt="happy halloween" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1335/5134995019_670353b1b6.jpg" width="320" height="480" /></a><br />It turned out pretty good, although we probably could have planned the "under costume" outfit a little better. They were rushing to get going last night when I grabbed them and made them stand still for a picture. I do wish I had gotten them to pose somewhere other than in front of the powder room. Oh well.Sydneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07128456837064172489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24304442.post-12284956325803181862010-10-05T12:05:00.003-05:002010-10-05T12:56:21.779-05:00Catching UpMaybe I should start this post by letting my kids off the hook. Their inability to get up on time was the top story on this blog for nearly a month, which probably isn't fair. They did manage to get on track a few days after my last post, and morning have been going fine for a while now.<br /><br />Thins have been busy here, which is fairly typical for September at Maison Sydney/Casa de Sydney. There have been the usualy array of school activities, sports, back to school nights, etc. Catgirl did have her schedule change abruptly about two weeks ago, when this happened:<br /><a title="Broken finger by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5054780188/"><img alt="Broken finger" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4149/5054780188_f8ba6d10ac.jpg" width="500" height="375" /></a><br />Broken finger. In the last field hockey practice before the games were supposed to start, she got whacked right on the finger with another girl's stick. We spent the next day visiting the pediatrician, the x-ray lab, back to the pediatrician, and then off to the "hand specialist." Who knew that a broken finger was such a big deal? And in the end, all they could do was mold a plastic splint to her finger pad, secure it on her finger with some tape, and say no sports for a month. <br /><br />Depending on how you look at it, this has either complicated or simplified her life tremendously. She can't play the flute, so she has no band lessons, no flute practice, and I have not had to pay the school band fee yet. Also, she cannot play field hockey, which means that after weeks of practice she doesn't get to be part of the games. But she still wants to attend the games so that she can be part of the team. So she still carries her uniform to school on game days, goes to the game and watches for a while. Then I pick her up and take her home to do homework, which does take a little longer with a splint on her writing hand. <br /><br />Actually, the weather has not been cooperating for the past week or so, which means that no one has been getting to play any field hockey lately. If the games keep getting pushed back, maybe her finger will be healed by then and she will be able to be part of the team after all!<br /><br />Meanwhile, Mathboy is doing cross country at his school. With the weather, they have only been able to have one meet so far, way back at the beginning of the school year. He ran his first 5K in 23:36, which we think is pretty good for a guy who just started running in July. Now if it would just stop raining so they could have another meet, he is very hopeful that he can improve his time.<br /><br />In chicken news, the young-uns are 19 weeks old this week. They are just about at laying age, although they still look a little gawky. Chicken teenagers:<br /><br />Melanie:<br /><a title="Melanie by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5054784692/"><img alt="Melanie" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4144/5054784692_9a4ca78a84.jpg" width="333" height="500" /></a><br /><br />Jackie:<br /><a title="Jackie by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5054164131/"><img alt="Jackie" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4129/5054164131_9417851539.jpg" width="500" height="333" /></a><br /><br />Lily and Audrey:<br /><a title="Lily and Audrey by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5054163951/"><img alt="Lily and Audrey" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4146/5054163951_67085fcb0f.jpg" width="500" height="367" /></a><br /><br />Daisy the Paranoid:<br /><a title="Daisy the Paranoid by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5054780688/"><img alt="Daisy the Paranoid" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4109/5054780688_b10d562e25.jpg" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />We hope they are getting ready to give us some eggs soon. It really could be at any time now. They're certainly eating enough!<br /><a title="DSCN2102 by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5054163117/"><img alt="DSCN2102" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4107/5054163117_d259d59c1a.jpg" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />I knitted my first pair of gloves recently. I designed them myself, to take full advantage of some beautiful handpainted yarn I had and to go with a really nice hat I had made from the same yarn.<br /><a title="DSCN2073 by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5019975735/"><img alt="DSCN2073" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4108/5019975735_30397ec0c0.jpg" width="500" height="375" /></a><br />I always told myself that I would never knit gloves, and that anyone who did had to be crazy. What kind of nutcase would commit to making ten fingers in the round?<br /><br />Well, apparently me. I had thought about making fingerless mitts, but.... Just how useful are fingerless mitts, anyway? When it's cold enough for mitts, it's cold enough that you want your fingers covered. So then I thought about making mittens. I do love mittens, because they are the best way to keep your fingers warm. Nothing works as well as allowing the fingers to share their warmth with each other. But I got hung up with practicality issues. It's hard to drive in mittens. Believe me, I know. So I just dove in and decided to make gloves. In the end, it wasn't hard, but by the last couple of fingers I was SO ready to be finished.<br /><br />In wildlife news, we've had some interesting visitors to our house lately. One day, this guy latched onto the front screen door and stayed all day.<br /><a title="Praying Mantis calling by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/4968907040/"><img alt="Praying Mantis calling" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4124/4968907040_521a859c21.jpg" width="332" height="500" /></a><br />I am still not sure if it's cool or creepy that it turned its head to look right at the camera for this shot. (shiver.)<br /><br />One really lovely fall day, I had the back patio door open with the screen latched so Rudolph the Annoying could not escape. I heard the strangest noise through the screen--some kind of snuffling sound. I looked out to see this guy, who had come right up to the door and was sniffing the shoes I had left there. He was completely oblivious to the giant white cat who was sniffing at him through the screen.<br /><a title="Young Groundhog visiting by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5015016464/"><img alt="Young Groundhog visiting" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4090/5015016464_4e7995d642.jpg" width="500" height="375" /></a><br />I took this picture and he still didn't notice either me or the cat. Finally, I just yelled at him (Hey, Groundhog!) and he took off really quickly. We are pretty sure he is young, probably the offspring of the groundhog family that lives in a creek bank behind our property. He must have moved out, and gotten his own place, under our shed. He still has not been formally introduced to Rudolph, the predator of the house.<br /><br />Of course, said predator hasn't had mich time for hunting lately.<br /><a title="Hard working Rudolph by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/5014409709/"><img alt="Hard working Rudolph" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4128/5014409709_e4b80d64e2.jpg" width="500" height="375" /></a><br />He's been busy. Zzzzzzzz.Sydneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07128456837064172489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24304442.post-40924312997733550722010-09-09T14:01:00.002-05:002010-09-09T14:42:51.995-05:00Not Quite Back in the SwingSchool started yesterday for both Mathboy and Catgirl. Under normal circumstances, this would be a cause for celebration. But not with my kids, it seems. So far, school seems to give me nothing but trouble and has turned me into a NAG. <br /><br />Just to be clear: I do not like being a nag.<br /><br />The end of summer vacation means that the summer assigned reading had to be done and the book reports written. Despite having a good 12 weeks of notice that they would have to do these things, and having their mother reminding (nagging?) them about the reading for weeks, both my kids found themselves rushing to finish at the last minute. Catgirl finished typing the book report Tuesday evening at about 8 p.m. Mathboy finished reading the last book on the bus on the way in to school Wednesday morning. Cutting it close, hm? <br /><br />The end of summer means catching the bus. The kids need to be downstairs, dressed and ready by 7 a.m. so that they have time to eat breakfast and make sure their backpacks are ready to go. Catgirl's bus comes at 7:20 and Mathboy's is supposed to come at 7:35. This morning, Catgirl was not ready for the bus until about 7:22. The bus was long gone at that point. It probably came a couple of minutes early, but it doesn't matter. There was no way she was going to make it even if it had been on time. Mathboy's bus stopped in front of the house and honked the horn at 7:25. Mathboy had not even gotten his breakfast out of the toaster yet, since he had not gotten downstairs until about 7:20 himself.<br /><br />I was already tired of yelling and nagging by that time, having resigned myself to the inevitability that I was going to have to drive both kids in this morning. Since Doane starts at 8:15 and OLGC starts at 8:30, I decided to drive Mathboy in first and then swing back to Moorestown to drop off Catgirl. I rounded everyone up along with everything they needed for afterschool activities, and loaded us all in the car. We were on the road around 7:40, eating waffles on the way.<br /><br />Unfortunately, I had forgotten about the traffic nightmare that Rte. 295 has become. We arrived at Doane at 8:14 (just under the wire). I had to take back roads to get to OLGC because the ramp to get back on 295 in Burlington is currently closed for contruction. I signed Catgirl in at her school at 8:47, almost 20 minutes late for her day.<br /><br />As we were sitting in traffic, and I was trying really hard not to fume and just accept the lesson of the morning, I asked the kids what we had learned from what happened. I tried not to be a jerk, noting that I learned it might be better to make school lunches the night before rather than in the morning. (I was trying to reduce the sting of the situation by accepting a share of the responsibility, although the immature part of me insists the lunches were not the problem. Said lunches were packed by 6:50 this morning.)<br /><br />Catgirl was silent, doing her best imitation of a teenager ignoring her mother. To be fair, her attitude may have been exacerbated because she had already lost screen time for 2 days and had been told she could not play or talk to the BFF next door for one day.<br /><br />Mathboy's answer: "We should listen to Mom."<br /><br />I was impressed. I didn't realize that Mathboy even knew how to suck up.<br /><br />In other news, I have acquired the most wonderful household tool, an item that I believe will minimize strife, divisiveness and resentment in the family, and all sorts of problems. I present to you, my new Wonder Tool:<br /><a title="DSCN2056_edited by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/4974241647/"><img alt="DSCN2056_edited" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4084/4974241647_8854363975.jpg" width="500" height="415" /></a><br />The dishwasher clean/dirty magnet. When you run the dishwasher, you make sure the "clean" side is facing out. After you empty the dishwasher, flip it to make the "dirty" side face out. My dream that there will be no more butter knives in with the clean flatware, no more dirty coffee cups dripping on clean plates, is within my grasp!<br /><br />Ingenious. <br /><br />I have also finished yet another shawl.<br /><a title="Curatio shawl 1 by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/4968299929/"><img alt="Curatio shawl 1" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4089/4968299929_1084b9332f.jpg" width="500" height="375" /></a><br />The Curatio shawl. It's beautiful, it was quick. Perfect vacation knitting.<br /><br />I love knitting shawls, but I am not so good about actually wearing them. Right now, I have 4 shawls decorating the rocking chair on my side of the bed. It's just silly. I need to figure out a good way to use them if I want to keep knitting them.Sydneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07128456837064172489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24304442.post-67440439564840088792010-09-03T14:53:00.004-05:002010-09-03T15:37:42.645-05:00Vacation EarlOur annual (more or less) pilgrimage to Our Lady of the Beach at Ocean City NJ ended a day or so early today, because of the forecasts for heavy winds and rain at the shore for today. It was hard to escape the doom and gloom of the forecasts all week, in fact, which, I do have to admit, put a small damper on our enjoyment of our vacation. Everyday, we kept checking the weather report and wondering if we would have to come home early. In the end, we did leave early, but we got a good amount of fun in before coming home.<br /><br />We did go do the rides one night. Here are some ferris wheel photos (I take some every time we go to Ocean City, don't I?)<br /><a title="DSCN1987 by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/4954879838/"><img alt="DSCN1987" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4125/4954879838_bffb11a526.jpg" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><a title="DSCN1985 by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/4954879458/"><img alt="DSCN1985" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4085/4954879458_e643f3bb14.jpg" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />And here are my guys chatting and watching the sunset form the Deauville Inn:<br /><a title="DSCN2039 by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/4954289707/"><img alt="DSCN2039" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4154/4954289707_d32afa10ef.jpg" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><a title="DSCN2034 by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/4954879112/"><img alt="DSCN2034" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4150/4954879112_5c4cf1fe46.jpg" width="500" height="375" /></a><br />We go to the Deauville Inn for a sunset dinner once every year. It has been a tradition for us since 2001, I think, which was the first year we rented a house in OC. This year, though, may be the last year for that. Dinner on the deck at the Deauville on Wednesday was hot, muggy, windless, and we were hounded by flies. Yuck. This is not a cheap place to eat, either. You'd think they could at least have a fan blowing the flies off the diners or maybe a citronella candle or two? Apparently not.<br /><br />The ocean was not exactly easy-going this week. On the first day, when we hung out at the boardwalk beach, the lifeguards were adamant that swimmers stay close to the beach and repeatedly called everyone in for beach meetings. They also had to call everyone out of the water at least three times so that they could go help in rescues on other beaches. It set the tone for the week.<br /><br />New things we did at Ocean City this year:<br /><br />1. We finally brought some bikes, which was <em>awesome</em>. We could only fit 2 of the bikes on Rich's car, but I think we need to bring all of them next time. Our house this year was at 21st and Asbury, which was practically on the boardwalk, and only 10 blocks from all the fun boardwalk stuff. If we had all had bikes, that would have been fantastic. It would have been so easy to zip on up to the shops and the fun places on the boardwalk, instead of having to drive and worry about finding a parking place. Next time we need all our bikes.<br /><br />2. Mathboy and I have found that running on the beach is 100 times better than running on suburban roads. Enough said.<br /><br />3. Going to the boardwalk waterpark with "big" kids means that I can sit in a chair and read and let them go on all the waterslides by themselves. I like that. I like that the kids are smart enough and sensitive enough to stay with each other and watch out for each other and come to check in with their parents enough so we don't get anxious. They're growing up, folks.<br /><br />4. Parasailing. This is really the only thing I have photos for. This was Rich's idea. I was dubious at first, but I came around. It was something totally new, and everyone wanted to try it.<br /><br />This is Catgirl and me:<br /><a title="DSCN2003 by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/4954878126/"><img alt="DSCN2003" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4133/4954878126_8a94e3c44a.jpg" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />And here go Rich and Mathboy for their turn:<br /><a title="DSCN2015 by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/4954289141/"><img alt="DSCN2015" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4130/4954289141_e087286699.jpg" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />There was 600 feet of rope, but the guys on the boat estimated we were about 350 feet high in the air.<br /><a title="DSCN2007 by sydneycm, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/maisonsydney/4954288995/"><img alt="DSCN2007" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4089/4954288995_af4cfe86f8.jpg" width="500" height="375" /></a><br />You get to enjoy the view for a while, then they reel you in and give you a quick dip in the ocean. It felt good, since it was about 95 degrees that day.<br /><br />I couldn't believe how smooth it felt to ride up in the air under the parachute--you were up at the top before you knew it. I was surprised at how quiet it was up there, too. You couldn't hear the waves or the shore birds or the boat engine. It was very peaceful.Sydneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07128456837064172489noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24304442.post-40923686662702801262010-08-17T11:12:00.007-05:002010-08-18T10:21:32.538-05:00Goodbye Harry<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcAHrfMbHpLsOW-_aEmiHZspkJ_9EU8YpsB9irbEEGcehlJhZ_e3PrpKma7vTxNZs0riGnW1O8lnkyGJtrRf4Uu0M7ew7pI_NRBfVlGomencIG1ZvdAdJGy3UZJSFS_NzMC15u/s1600/DSCN1409_edited.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 213px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506769824943522530" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcAHrfMbHpLsOW-_aEmiHZspkJ_9EU8YpsB9irbEEGcehlJhZ_e3PrpKma7vTxNZs0riGnW1O8lnkyGJtrRf4Uu0M7ew7pI_NRBfVlGomencIG1ZvdAdJGy3UZJSFS_NzMC15u/s320/DSCN1409_edited.JPG" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM0STwmBOgqvsXieabTnONMXRX46jfp7qdkZKo_BuDOSM01hyphenhyphenK2AmwBi22GByX84M2JYj_pzBmtJgDMSmvZlkAJoduuAw3XdfIN18yhpYsNsW76ly8aY3VBO05ZE2FA9gdGxXD/s1600/DSCN1090_edited.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506768698542911602" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM0STwmBOgqvsXieabTnONMXRX46jfp7qdkZKo_BuDOSM01hyphenhyphenK2AmwBi22GByX84M2JYj_pzBmtJgDMSmvZlkAJoduuAw3XdfIN18yhpYsNsW76ly8aY3VBO05ZE2FA9gdGxXD/s320/DSCN1090_edited.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />It is with much sadness that we bid goodbye to Harry Potter, the best guinea pig a family ever had. He will be missed. In the end, though, he obviously was in a lot of pain, so we are glad that he is free from that now.Sydneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07128456837064172489noreply@blogger.com0